Tainted Angels
by JohnnynotSid
Summary: There are consequences when it comes to being the Uchiha girl, which include BEING the Uchiha girl, as Artemis soon discovers. But the real trouble comes with the second choir.
1. Just up The Stairway to Heaven

Author's Note: Yeah, I know, I should finish my other stories, but this idea came to me, and I just could not stop it.

Chapter 1: And All There Was...

She was beautiful, all babies are beautiful. Especially to their own parents. But this child was truly a marvel. There she had been, all rolled up in a soft pink blanket, three hours old. Already had a head full of black tangle, green eyes bright, and roses in her dimpled cheeks. Most of all she seemed to possess an understanding of the world around her from the moment she was born, like she understood everything that was being said and done and thought, 'okay, when do I get to have a say?'

It made it all the more a tragedy when you looked at her family. No father, just a fourteen-year-old mother, with a fiery spirit and pink hair who had everything ahead of her. No one knew who the father was, neither, it seemed, did the Mother. She was a Shinobi who had experienced a mission gone wrong, yet still kept the baby. That took courage.

Well, at least the girl had gotten reassurance that it was worth it when she saw the baby. She just stared in awe of this little baby girl, who looked back at her with a steady gaze like she was saying, "Are you ready for this?"

The girl seemed to answer with a name. "Artemis."

The answer seemed to satisfy the little girl, who rewarded her mother with a laugh of the purest love and innocence. And with that, the beautiful young mother cuddled her raven-haired angel that was named as a goddess, and all there was was beauty.

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The nurse gathered the little girl from the basin, thinking once more about how appropriate her name was. This little girl was such a little angel, the nurse was surprised she did not have wings. But she knew this little girl would grow to be a Goddess. She knew it. She layed the child down on the table to give her a check up. Gently, the nurse removed her onesie to use the stethescope, when something caught her eye.

It looked odd, like birthmark, but a very strange one. Like three black Hershey kisses in a circle, points facing outwards. How odd. The nurse reached out a finger and touched it. Instantly, the child began to wail, the nurse removed her finger. The child stopped crying and gave her a look that plainly said, "don't do that again."

"Alright," said the nurse aloud. She shook herself, she was talking to a baby. She quickly gave the girl a checkup, avoiding the infant's eyes. She didn't know why, it was just a baby. Satisfied the girl was in good health, the nurse dressed the baby and carried her down to her mother's room.

"Artemis!" Came the happy cry of the girl's mother as the nurse enterred, carrying the little girl. She could not help but smile at how happy new mother's always were to see their baby.

"Here she is, Miss Haruno," the nurse said. She should tell her.

"We're already to nurse, but i want to show you one thing..." The nurse lifted back the little girl's clothing, showing the mark on her shoulder. "Make sure you don't touch that, it makes her cry."

Without warning, the mother burst into tears and started hugging her baby to her.

"Ma'am, stop! You'll-"

It was then the nurse noticed the little girl wasn't crying. But the mother was sobbing and wailing horribly, spilling her tears into her child's hair. "No, no," she sobbed, "no no no no no no no, oh please, no. Not my baby, not my baby. Not Artemis." The nurse moved to rub the woman's back before the Haruno girl started screaming.

"SASUKE! YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU? I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS I SWEAR! I WILL GET YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY BABY! NO! NO!"

Terrified, the nurse wrenched the baby girl from the woman's arms, shocked the child still was not crying. "DOCTOR? DOCTOR? GET IN HERE NOW!"

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14 years later:

Sakura looked out the window blissfully. It was a beautiful night, beautiful, but sinister. Dark blue clouds everywhere in the dark abyss, the moon beautiful and big. Artemis loved nights like these.

_"Mommy, come look!"_

_Sakura called to her daughter from the other room. "Look at what?"_

_"Come and look!"_

_Sakura grudgingly got up and walked into her daughter's room. Artemis sat on her beloved windowseat, her little legs drawn up under her nightgown, looking out the open window._

_Sakura rushed over. "Artemis, close the window! It looks like it's about to rain, and you can't get sick again!"_

_That's what Sakura called it when the curse seal took hold, Artemis's 'sickness.'_

_"I'm never really sick," the five year old protested impatiently, "Now look!"_

_Sakura humored her and glanced out the window. "Okay what?"_

_"No, Mommy REALLY look. Isn't it beautiful?" The little girl said, staring mystified into the night, like it was too much to take._

_Sakua sighed, "It's about to rain."_

_"Yes," the little girl admitted, "But aren't they beautiful?"_

_Sakura loked again. She could see what Artemis meant. The way the clouds gracefully drifted across the sky, briefly shadowing the moon. The way the crescent moon stood out like a curved pearl, making it all the more striking._

_"Yes, it is beautiful."_

_Artemis sighed happily. "And so honest."_

_Sakura lookd at her, "What do you mean?"_

_"Well, clouds are warnings of rain, and people see that as bad, but it's really good. Rain helps us. But people see it as bad because the don't really look at it. They just groan about the rain, forgetting how good rain is. So on top of that, they don't appreciate the clouds' beauty, and they miss out on something really good because they don't stop and think that maybe it's something really actually very good."_

Sakura never forgot that night. How could a child of five see the world with so much beauty, yet with such depressing realism at the same time?

With Artemis, you never could tell if she was happy or sad. Sure, she was always cheery, but you also got the feeling she also felt an eternal nagging at her heart. And not just the curse seal.

The worst part was that Sakura knew what it was, and knew how to fix it. But she wouldn't, and she hated herself for it. How could she do this to her own daughter? She just couldn't bear to see the consequences of what she had to do affect the both of them. If Artemis knew, she'd hate Sakura for keeping it from her, and go out and seek it. The village would instantly link it with Artemis's 'sicknesses' and start treating her differently. And the pain it would bring Artemis to know.

Sakura went into her bedroom and opened the drawer in her night stand. She extracted the photo from the drawer and looked at the people in it. Her happy smile, one that was erased not too long before Artemis was born. Kakashi, looking so amused and proud, his hands on the boys' head. Naruto, looking so angry, but in a comical way. And finally...

Sasuke.

_"Mommy, whose this with you, Naruto-Sensei, and Kakashi-sensei?" The seven year old's cry came from her bedroom._

"_Hmm? Where?"_ _Sakura asked peeking her head in the room. She looked at her daughter, and at the picture she was holding. In an instant, she has snatched it away._

_"HEY!" Her daughter's cry came._

_Sakura looked at the furious little girl and sat down on the bed. "Artemis, that was just an old friend of Mommy's."_

_"Whose that?"_

_"Just an old friend."_

_"Then why don't I see him like I see Naruto and Kakashi-Sensei? And why don't I know his name?" That little girl did not miss anything._

_Sakura sighed. "He went away a long time ago and did some bad things. Mommy doesn't hear about him anymore. She tries to forget him."_

_"Then why do you keep that picture?" Artemis demanded._

_Sakura sighed again. "So I will never be able too."_

The little boy scowled at her from the picture. She could not believe that was the boy who broke her heart and fathered her child. That grumpy looking little boy, that cursed little boy. Oh, how the years have passed. How he must have changed. Probably has grown to be even more handsome, that is, if he was still alive. Sakura did not even know. She knew Orochimaru was dead, at least. The found that horrible snake's body twelve years ago. But no word of Sasuke, not even a hint. Had he died? Did Itachi kill him? Or did he accomplish his life's mission and slaughter his brother?

How close the answer was to her, and she did not even know it. Worse, it was even closer to her daughter. In fact, as Artemis pondered the same subject, staring into the beautiful night's sky. The answer called out below her.

"Hello there! Let me pass!"


	2. Then Turn onto The Highway To Hell

Chapter 2: Just up The Stairway to Heaven, Then Turn Onto The Highway To Hell.

"Whozair?"

Artemis glanced impatiently at her teammate. "Matsuri, for once, I'd like to see if you can go a night of Gate Duty without falling asleep."

"Yeah, yeah," Matsuri said before peering down at the man who had woken him. "HELLO! PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND AHHH!"

Artemis had slapped him on the back of his head. "You and your fear of heights. You make things so difficult."

Matsuri wobbled over the ledge for a few seconds before looking at Artemis grumpily. "What the Hell is wrong with you? I could have Fallen and gotten seriously hurt."

"Yeah, whatever," Artemis grumbled before leaping off the edge of the gate and landing gracefully in front of the visitor.

She straightened up and faced the man. His face was hidden partially by the darkness, but completely by the dark blue velvet hooded cloak he wore. Inside, she felt her apprehension rise. She did not trust people who would not show their face. They always turned out to be the ones who was capable of killing you in cold blood. Nevertheless, she greeted him cordially.

"Greetings, welcome to Konoha Village. Would you please state your name and business here?" _And maybe show me your face and where you're hiding your weapons._

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I used to live here, I am returning home. I still have ownership over the Uchiha Mansion, I believe."

Artemis looked at him skeptically. _Sasuke_. That name rang a bell. Where had she heard it before? "Would you please lower your hood, Uchiha-san?"

"I was not aware you needed to see my face to grant me entry," the man said grumpily. But he removed his hood.

Sasuke didn't really mind removing it, at least now he could see properly. He looked at the young woman before him. She was a young girl, probably in her early teens. Pretty thing, in a wild sort of way. Masses of black crazy hair held back by her leaf headband, pale skin, and bright green eyes. For some reason, he felt like he knew her. But he knew he had never met the girl. He remembered every face.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but have we met somewhere before?"

"Not that I know of, Uchiha-san. My name is Artemis. I will escort you to your home" said the girl absently. She turned and yelled up to her teammate, "OPEN THE GATE!"

The gates opened and they stepped through. Sasuke looked around in happy appraisal. Not much had changed. Still the same old Konoha. But he was more concerned with the people.

Artemis looked at him uneasily. She was sure she had seen his face somewhere. She was so lost in looking at his face, she was surprised when he spoke.

"So, Artemis, do you have a last name?"

Artemis did not give her full name to strangers, and hated when they asked. "Yes."

"May I know it?"

"No."

They were silent for the rest of the walk to the old Uchiha Mansion. Artemis looked up at the looming building with awe. When she and her friends were little, they always tried to break in, but could never manage it. They called it "The Witch House," and made it the setting of every ghost story they ever told. It was quite strange to finally meet the owner. Even stranger to see how normal he looked, just walking straight through the gate like it was nothing when she and every other kid in the village had tried everything and never got in. It almost seemed disrespectful, the way he just strode in like it was nothing. But he must have put a spell on it so only he could enter. Made sense.

"Thank you for your assistance, Artemis-chan. I hope we'll cross paths again." The man called out. Artemis took that as her dismissal and made her way back to the gate as fast as she could. She wasn't sure she liked this Uchiha Sasuke.

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Sakura glanced into her daughter's room to check on her. Artemis lay sleeping peacefully, totally undisturbed by the light that hit her eyes. Sakura smiled, remembering what it was like being a Genin on Gate Duty. Strange how someone else's life can sometimes emulate your own so much.

She left the house, feeling fresh and ready for work, despite the downpour. It was one of those warm summer storms that made you want to just dance around in. Unfortunately, she was tried for time. She hurried to work, making it just in time.

She took her place by Tsubame's side, winking at Naruto. He didn't wink back and just gave her a sympathetic look. 'What?' Sakura thought. 'Do I have something on my face?'

Naruto started making weird hand movements and motioning toward the door through which was reserved for visitors and people coming to move tp the village. OH! Some big perv was probably visiting and Sakura would probably have to take care of him. Sakura sighed. She hated things like this.

She waved to Naruto assuringly, who responded with a shocked look. Sakura just sat back and picked up the clipboard on the desk in front of her.

_Schedule:_

_Assign Genin Missions _(always an extremely funny affair)

_Welcome Back Old Resident (_Must be the Perv

_Wake up Kakashi _(Always a Dangerous Mission)

_Evaluate New Requests _(Sakura could do that without looking, D, D, D, C, D, D, D...)

_Lunch (_Heehee, wake up Artemis, even worse than waking up Kakashi)

_ANBU Reports _(Anti-Anti-Depressants)

_Announcements_

_Assign ANBU and Chuunin Missions_

_Assign New Genin Missions (Anti-Anti-Anti-Depressants, good thing Tom Cruise isn't a Shinobi)_

_Collect Rewards _(Pay Day!)

_Private Meetings (_Her cue to leave, YAY!)

Altogether, it seemed a pretty good day, nothing out of the ordinary, so what was the problem?

The problem walked into the room with a solemn look on his face and said, "I am back."

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Artemis woke up to the usual sound of Bon Scott's high-renching vocals with a frown. She hated waking up, but at least today would not be too weird. It was pretty uniform. Everynight, go to bed listening to Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven,' wake up to AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell.'

It was something she had been doing since she was six, the year she had mastered the Sharingan and knew her life's mission. As a Kunoichi, she would protect her country, most likely someday have to kill a person. Which might send her to Hell. So every waking moment she was on a 'Highway to Hell.' Which is why she couldn't die in a waking moment and spent all her waking time training so she would not die awake and be sent to Hell.However, at night, when she was asleep, she would not be training for the moment she would have to kill, so she wasn't going to Hell. So when she was asleep, she left her guard down and was on the 'Stairway to Heaven.' If she died then, at least she woud not be going to Hell.

People did not understand this at all. Haruno Artemis did not spend all her time training, she spent half of it training, and half of it making music with her band 'Sober Love.' How could she possibly be going to Hell every waking moment?

What they didn't know was that every time she made music, she was training her sharingan. She found out music was a great way to exercise it, by using it to transport people further into her music than if they just heard her. Her sharingan was used to make sure everyone felt the benefit of whatever song she played, By working through her guitar and voice. This training was so affecive, she did not even have to use her eyes. She sould use her voice, or an instrument, or anything else she wished. This made it so that even if her opponent avoided her eyes, he could not escape her power. It made it more far reaching, and put people in a state of shock and bewilderment even after she was done controlling their mind, making it easier for her to attack.

It was through this, she was able to elevate her sharingan's power without taking human life.

Of course, this constant training made her horribly tired, so waking her up was always a dangerous mission.

However, this morning, she got up easily. She had a feeling she should. There was something going down she did NOT want to miss. She quickly got dressed in her usual outfit of ripped blue jeans, black tank top, and purple fishnet over shirt. Artemis loved purple, mostly because of her hair. So unlike her mother's, whose was light pink and silky. Artemis had a black spiky mess with striking purple highlights. Thus she wore a lot purple. Purple netting, purple eyeliner, purple fingerless gloves, and purple bangles.

She was lost in thought of her hair until the next song came on. Madonna's 'Material Girl.' Where was Mom? This was their song. Every morning or whatever time it was, depending on whenever Artemis awoke, they made it a daily ritual to dance around and lip-synch to this. And Mom was in the house, who else could have turned on the stereo?

"HEY MOM! IT'S OUR SONG!"

"Not right now, Artemis."

What? No WAY! This was the women who rushed in here to sing this song in the middle of shaving her legs. Never before had she ever failed to answer Madonna's call.

"COME ON, MOM! THE DIVINE QUEEN OF POP CALLS YOU OUT!"

"NOT RIGHT NOW ARTEMIS!"

WHAT THE FUCK!

Artemis walked briskly out of her bedroom into the living room, prepared to interrogate her mother, but stopped in her tracks and gaped at what she saw.

That weird Uchiha dude sat on the couch next her mother. He looked at her with shock. They stared at eachother for a while. Sakura looked at them back and forth in panic and confusion. Did they know each other? No, impossible. Sasuke had just gotten here last night.

Oh, wait, that explained it. Gate Duty. Right. She should have realized it. But, wait. Who knew what might have passed between them? Oh Lord.

"Artemis, this is..."

"Uchiha Sasuke." Artemis finished for her. "What is this guy doing in our house?" She asked with an eyebrow risen.

Sasuke broke his look of shock to one of a warm, yet awkward smile. "Well, Artemis-san, I guess your last name is revealed."

Inside, Sasuke was goingcrazy. Sakura had a kid? With who? And how long a ago? This girl did not look a day under fourteen. No, wait, maybe this was her sister. No, the girl had called Sakura 'Mom.' Adoption, maybe? No. The girl had those eyes. Sakura's eyes, besides, the resemblance was to striking. Sakura's eyes, cheeks, height, and her hands; as Sasuke saw as they rested on her hips. Though they were a little more calloused at the fingertips.

He looked at Sakura in shock, who looked at him with an odd look. Like she was angry and sorry at the same time. Why?

"Uchiha-san," Artemis said, bowing. Her purple-black mess fell forward as she dipped her neck.

"Artemis, baby? This is one of my old friends. He's coming back to live here again. We were just disscussing some things. Why don't you take some money from the drawer and go buy some ramen at The Ichiraku Noodle Shop? Then go meet your team at the bridge, they'll be meeting at 2:30. I'll talk to you tonight. You don't have Gate Duty again, do you?" Sakura asked, awkwardly.

Artemis looked at her angrily. "You know I don't. They never give it to one team two nights in a row. We only have prompting today. We're doing a C mission tomorrow. But other than that, we have today off. I have band practice tonight, which you also know." Her mother spoke to her like she was a baby, something she had never done before, and she was forgetting things she never forgot. Why was she acting all weird?

But a pleading look from her mother promptd her to just grab her stuff and leave. As she sipped her ramen, she cursed Uchiha Sasuke. Whatever the nature of her mother's actions, he was the cause of it.


	3. Hey, So Glad You Could Make It

Chapter 3: Hey, So Glad You Could Make It

Sasuke looked at Sakura in shock. "When did you have a kid?"

Sakura froze up inside. What the Hell? Couldn't he see it? Artemis's hair, her stature, her chin, her forhead, her nose, her voice, all his. Didn't he see it?

She sighed. "About nine months after you left."

A look of dawning comprehension enveloped his features. "Wh-what? That girl? She's..."

"A little Uchiha."

Sasuke looked at Sakura for several minutes. "But, if she's mine, then why didn't Tsubame or Artemis say anything?"

"Because they don't know. As far as they're concerned, one of my missions went horribly wrong, which lead to me becoming pregnant."

"Why-" Sasuke said, a million questions buzzing in his head. He didn't know which to ask first.

"Why didn't I tell anybody she is your kid? To keep her safe! If anybody knew, she'd be the target of so many people, including Orochimaru and your brother. Besides, she would be treated differently then the other kids, rejected. I could not let that happen. Your reputation is a burden no one should carry but yourself. I would not let whatever you did or might do affect my child. For all I knew, you could have ended up slaughtering millions of people. I could not let Artemis have to deal with that. And, there is another thing..."

Sasuke's heart tightened up. Oh God. "The Seal," he choked out.

Sakura nodded. "I had to lie and say she was sick whenever it took hold. I could not let people try to experiment on her like she's some lab rat. It would be wrong."

"Of course," Sasuke said in a hollow voice as he looked away from Sakura at a small spider climbing up a door frame. "Are you going to tell her now?"

Sakura smacked him. "WELL I DON'T HAVE CHOICE NOW DO I? YOU'RE BACK! SHE HAS TO KNOW NOW! WHAT? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST STROLL BACK INTO MY LIFE, DISREGARD YOUR DAUGHTER, PRETENDING SHE IS NOT YOURS WHILE I CONTINUE TO RAISE HER BY MYSELF? DON'T YOU WANT TO HAVE ANY PART IN HER LIFE? DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN JUST DECIEVE HER LIKE THAT, AND NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER! SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER! YOU HAVE MISSED SO MUCH OF HER LIFE, AND NOW YOU JUST PLAN ON WATCHING THE REST OF IT PLAY OUT FROM THE SIDELINES, HIDDEN FROM HER? YOU THINK YOU CANLET HER SEE YOU EVERY DAY, OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT SHE IS YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD? hOW COULD YOU BE SO HEARTLESS? YOU'RE BACK, YOU'VE KILLED ITACHI, GOTTEN YOUR STUPID REVENGE! NOW IT'S TIME TO PAY ATTENTION TO SOMEONE OTHER THEN YOURSELF! YOU HAVE NO REASON TO KEEP THIS FROM HER, AND NO RIGHT!"

"Oh, like you do?" Sasuke asked her angrily. "You kept this from her too, you know. I did not even knoe of her existance until now. How do you expect me to tell her something like this? You're her the one she knows better. And now she's gonna know you've lied to her her entire life. Whose to say she'll accept me as her father? She doesn't know me. In fact, neither do you anymore. But you have to do it, you're all she knows, I don't have the right to tell her. And for the record, Itachi is not dead. I didn't get my revenge. I came back to protect Konoha from the Akatsuki. They wish to destroy it and everyone in it. But Itachi made a deal with them. As long as I reside in Konoha, they cannot attack it."

Sakura looked at him, stunned. "W-what? Why?"

Sasuke sighed. "They wish to destroy every one of the hidden villages do they can destroy the defenses of every country. However, one thing they covet is the Sharingan, they can't afford for it to die out. Unfortunately, Itachi...is infertile, so I am the only chance for it to live on. My brother made a deal that Konoha would serve as my haven and where the sharingan bloodline would reside. They don't dare attack my village if I am here, they cannot risk me getting hurt. But now... this complicates things."

"What?"

"Basically, I have had to put my revenge on hold to keep the Akatsuki from taking over the village, since I am the only carrier of the Sharingan, Konoha is spared."

Sakura's mind went haywire, trying to take this in. But she was interupted by the sound of the stereo. Sober Love's cover of 'Hit That.' Oh God. Then it dawned on her.

_"Mommy! Guess what Kakashi-Sansei showed me!" The six-year-old's voice squealed as she burst through the door._

_Sakura turned around, smiling, to face her little girl. For a second, she saw her litle girl's normally green eyes flash red._

_Suddenly, she was sitting in a field, it was night time, and the sky was cloudy. Artemis sat next to her on a picnic blanket. Then, suddenly, she was back in the living room._

_Artemis wiped sweat from her brow, her eyes turning back to green. She beamed up at her mother, panting heavily. "See? Isn't that cool?"_

_Sakura stared at her daughter in astonishment. Jesus Christ, the girl was only six. How could she be able to do that at that age? Looked like she took after her uncle. At that thought, Sakura gulped. Hope fully that was the ONLY thing in which her daughter took after her uncle._

_"Mommeeeee! Isn't that cool?" Artemis whined,pulling at her mother's arm._

_Sakura looked down into her little girl's bright, impatient eyes. "Yes," she said, smiling. "That is very cool. But sweetie, best not tell too many people about this, ok?"_

Sakura looked at Sasuke uneasily. "There is a slight problem."

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Artemis left Matsuri's garage alone, grumbling. It had not been the best rehearsal. Matsuri was still mad about he night before, so his playing was not up to par. He kept on messing up, which set the whole rythm off, which of course caused Meisha to have trouble following him on drums. And of course, Artemis herself was very agitated over her mother's behavior, so she reacted more strongly than usual to this problem. It was so bad they all decided to cut the set four songs short and call it a night.

Matsuri lived at the edge of town, near the forest's entrance,a handy location if you wanted to train. Artemis looked at her watch. It was only 4:45. She could get about an hour's training in before heading home. Sure, she didn't have her equipment, but she could practice some taijutsu, and maybe sit down with her guitar and work on some songs.

She strode into to woods and found the training grounds, completely vacant. Good.She put down her guitar, tied her hair up,and focussed her chakra. Instantly, she felt the presence of another. She looked around, but found nothing. "Ok, you can come out, Itachi."

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Itachi watched the girl practice her moves in interest. She never failed to surprise him. His little Artemis was a phenomenon, he had known that since she was little and sensed his prescence when she was only four years old. She had been on a picnic with her mother and that blonde woman.

_Artemis looked up from her rice ball in alarm. Itachi tensed up. Had they felt him? The two women beside her did not seem to._

_"Arty, what is it?" The blonde woman asked her._

_"Someone's here," the child answered._

_The blonde woman looked at Sakura. "You feel anything? I don't."_

_Sakura concentrated for a few seconds. "Nothing. Looks like Artemis has a little imaginary friend. Don't you Arty?"_

_Itachi relaxed. Good, at least his sharingan was not failing._

_"Oh, how cute!" The blonde woman squealed. "Tell me, Arty, is it a girl or boy."_

_The child bit her bottom lip, furrowed her brow in frustration, and looked directly where Itachi hid. His heart quickened._

_"Boy," she said, looking back at the two women._

_"What's his name?" Her mother asked._

_"I don't know, but he's a big boy with long black hair." The child said hesitantly before continuing to eat her rice-ball._

After that, Itachi waited until the child came out alone to approach her. The chance came a year later.

_The child turned around after she had finished throwing her kunai at the wooden post ahead of her. "Hello?" She asked unsteadily._

_Itachi revealed himself to the little girl, who looked at him in awe. "I know you!" She said excitedly. "You were hiding out last year when Mommy, Ino, and me had our picnic! You know you were not really supposed to be there, it was no boys allowed."_

_Itachi could not help but smile at the child's innocence. What was wrong with him? He never cared for children. He had killed plenty of children before, but now he hesitated. Why? He bent down to get a better look at the girl and got his answer._

_The child was almost an exact likeness of his little brother at that age, save for green eyes._

_Trying his best to keep his composure, he asked the girl, "Forgive me, Miss...?"_

_"Haruno Artemis, age five."_

_Haruno? Of course, Sasuke's little girlfriend was called Haruno Sakura. And it had been only a little over five years since his little brother had left Konoha. It made sense. There was only one thing..._

_"Well, Haruno-san, you havevery pretty eyes."_

_"The better to see you with." Came the quick answer._

_"Yes, well, may I look at the a little closer?"_

_The little girl stepped back. "You're not gonna take them out, are you?"_

_Itachi chuckled. "No, just let me look you in the eye."_

_Artemis let him. Itachi stared into her eyes. There it was. Unmastered Sharingan eyes. This was his brother's daughter._

_"Well, Haruno-san, my name is Itachi, just Itachi. I would like to be your friend."_

_"Ok." The little girl said naively._

_"But you must keep it a secret, if you need to tell anyone about something we did, call me Kakashi, ok?"_

_"Ok."_

To this day, Itachi did not understand why he did that. Maybe it was his way of making it up to Sasuke, maybe it was because of his need for the sharingan to live on, maybe it was her adorable face and attitude. But from that day on, Itachi did his best to train and protect the little girl.

It was due to this he reconciled with his brother(somewhat)and worked to protect the village. Really, Konoha meant nothing to him. But this girl did. Now all he had to do is make sure the Akatsuki did not discover her or her power.

He smiled at the girl warmly and held out his arms. The teenager ran towards him and gave hima crushing hug. Itachi returned the hug warmly, "Hey, Arty."

"Hey Itachi," she said before pulling back. "What brings you here?"

"You, mostly."

Artemis stopped. The 'you' part was normal, but the 'mostly' part didn't fit. "What do you mean 'mostly?'"

"Well, My Little Kitten, I have business here that I cannot really disscus with you right now."

"It's about Uchiha Sasuke, isn't it?" The girl asked him.

"Ah, you've met him, have you?" Itachi asked her with eyebrow raised. By the sound of it, she still didn't know. Did Sasuke know? He had to, Itachi realized it in five seconds. "Yes, partly."

"I don't like him much, he makes Mom act all weird."

I bet he does. "Well, he and your Mom used to be good friends, she's probably just happy to see him."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "No, she's acting like he's a ticking bomb. I'm just waiting for him to go off and see how crazy she gets then."

Itachi ruffled her hair. "I'm sorry to hear that. But tell me about how your band is doing."

"Well, judging by the last rehearsal, we're doing horribly..."


	4. Another Brick In The Wall

Chapter 4: Another Brick In The Wall

Artemis walked through the door, her mind still on her conversation with Itachi. "Hey Mom, I-"

Once again, she was halted by the sight of her mother and that Uchiha dude sitting on the couch, looking at her, with worry.

"You're still here?" Artemis said, dumbfounded. Instantly, her mother had her in a death grip and was screaming at her.

"ARTEMIS! OH, BABY YOU HAD ME SO WORRIED! WHERE DID YOU GO AFTER BAND PRACTICE? I CALLED THE KANOS BUT THEY SAID YOU LEFT EARLY! I WAS SO SCARED! WHERE WERE YOU?"

"Calm down, Mom, jeez. I just went for a little extra training time out in the woods afterwards. I've done this before, what's the big deal?"

"You should have called or told someone where you were going." This time, it was Uchiha Sasuke who spoke. Artemis looked at him angrily.

"This is none of your business! Who do you think you are, my father?"

There was a silence. Artemis looked back and forth between the two adults. They both stared at her in utter shock. Artemis didn't get it, why were they acting all weird? And then it hit her. She started gasping for breath, staring at Uchiha Sasuke with wide eyes.

"Wh-what?" She gasped before turning to her mother angrily, pointing at Sasuke. "THIS IS YOUR 'MISSION GONE WRONG?'"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak.

"N-no," Artemis cut her off, "I don't want to hear it, it's probably just a lie anyways."

Sakura bowed her head. Artemis grabbed her mother by the chin and made her face her. "No, you look me in the eye," Artemis gasped out. "Don't you look away! How could you? How could you lie to me like this?"

"Artemis--" Sasuke said from behind her. Artemis swung around and stared at him.

"Don't talk to me. I don't know you, don't talk to me. You have been absent from my life for fourteen years, I don't want to hear what you have to say, got it?"

With that, Artemis swept into her room, and slammed the door.

Sasuke looked at the tearful Sakura. "Well, that could not have gone worse."

But it did. Five minutes later, Artemis burst out of the room, carrying a duffel bag. "I'm going to stay over at Naruto-kun's, we have a C mission tomorrow, so I want to make sure we're there on time. If you need anything, you know where to call."

And she left.

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She really did go to Naruto's, who greeted her solemnly. He knew enough from her expression she was severely distressed. He put out two bowls of shrimp ramen and looked at her. "What happened?"

Artemis stirred the noodles slowly. "Well, I just found out my Mother has been lying to me my entire life."

"What? It doesn't sound like your mother to lie, especially not to you."

"Well, she did," Artemis assured him with a bitter smile. "She fucking well did. You know that Uchiha Sasuke guy?"

"Of course, he and I were on your mother's Genin squad, we were best friends," Naruto said, reminiscing.

"Well, that's one more thing I didn't know about him," Artemis said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

Artemis threw down her spoon angrily, kicked out her chair from under her, and pulled at her hair. "HE'S MY FUCKING FATHER! MY FATHER! I WASN'T THE RESULT OF SOME MISSION-RAPE OR SHIT LIKE THAT! MOM LIED TO ME! SHE KNEW IT, HE'S MY FATHER!"

Naruto stared a her in astonishment. "Woah."

Artemis looked at him pleadingly with tears in her eyes. "Tell me you didn't know."

"Of course not! I mean, sure, your Mother always had a thing for him; all the girls did. And I know they got a lot closer as time went on. Your mother was devastated when he left. And I always suspected your mother was not telling the whole truth about it, but I didn't want to say anything. But it sure as Hell makes a ton of sense."

Artemis crumbled to the floor. "Why? Why did she keep it a secret?" She sobbed wildly.

Naruto crouched down beside the girl and gave her a squeeze. "She did it for good reason, Artemis. Your father had betrayed the village, and who knows what path he took afterwards? Besides, Sasuke was cursed, and the last thing you would want to be is the 'cursed boy's daughter.' Would you really have wanted to live with that?"

Artemis shook her head. "She still could have told me. It;s not right for me to know this way! It's not fair!"

"I know, Sweetheart, I know."

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Sasuke sat in Artemis's room. He felt he should not leave Sakura alone tonight. She had been hysterical for the rest of the night, and it took him forever to get her to bed. He looked around at the walls. Everywhere were posters. Pink Floyd, Hole, The Who, Nirvana, John Lennon, Tori Amos, Lacuna Coil, The Ramones, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Sex Pistols. In frames were newspaper articles. He looked at one closely. There was a picture of Artemis in a shredded skirt and black tank top playing guitar and singing into the microphone while a boy in jeans played bass and beanie-wearing girl drummed. The Headline read, "Sober Love Is The Sex Pistols With Estrigen and Good Musicianship, The Ramones with a Sharper Edge."

Sasuke smiled. Nice to see his first child had talent.

"Quite the headline," said an all-too-familiar voice.

"Itachi." Sasuke said without turning.

"Little brother, how nice to see you again."

Sasuke turned to him. "I beg to differ."

"Aw, has Sasuke become all defensive now that he's a Daddy?"

Sasuke's face heated up. "You stay away from her, you don't know anything about Artemis."

For some reason, Itachi looked like he was desperately trying to hold back a laugh. "I could say the same thing about you. But this is serious. If the Akatsuki find out about Artemis, they may try to kidnap her, and then they would have no reason to keep you alive and destroy the village. If I were you, I'd keep the girl close. Have the girl and her mother move in with, say it's a romantic thing between you and Sakura. Keep her close and keep her safe."

Sasuke nodded at his brother's advice. Fate was funny. All his life he had been training to kill his brother, now he was getting parenting advice from him. Just proves that children change everything.

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A Week Later:

Artemis loved C missions. It was a chance to get out and stretch your legs without having to worry about danger. Not to mention protecting this old Lady took her mind off her problems at home.

This one had been particularly good. Lady Watsuki was an outgoing woman who loved Weird Al Yankovic Songs, so a good amount of time was spent singing "Like A Surgeon," "Smells Like Nirvana," and "Pretty Fly For a Rabbi." But soon after they left the woman back home in Water, Artemis was reminded of what she had to face when she got home. The entire way home, she bombarded Naruto with questions about Uchiha Sasuke. What did he do for fun? Did He have a Sense of Humor? What was his taste in Music? What was his attitude toward mom? What were his pet peeves?

But she really could not get much. According to Naruto-sensei, the only thing Sasuke cared about was revenge. This of course intrigued Artemis intensely. On who? Why? On his brother for wiping out the entire Uchiha Clan. All Sasuke ever wanted was to kill his brother and restore his clan.

This bothered Artemis. That was all he cared about? Jeez. Then who was to say he ever cared about her mother, or would ever care about her? Besides, she did not want a person who only focussd on killing. She wanted a father.

No, that was not fair. All her life she had had plenty of Father-figures. Naruto, Kakashi, Rock Lee, Iruka. The list went on. She had been showered with love from multiple people all her life, and spoiled rotten. Whether it was Itachi in one of his secret meetings, Tenten showing her how to throw a Kunai, Hinata teaching her healing, Ino doing her hair in a way that no one else could, Rock Lee showing her Taijutsu, Naruto treating her to Ramen, or Kakashi showing her his friends's memorial. She always had a million people loving her and taking care of her. She had never been starved for love.Before she knew about Uchiha Sasuke, she had been perfectly content with the amount of love she was recieving. She was not going to let one guy ruin that for her. Even if it was her real father.

It was through this realization she was able to forgive her mother and come home without fear. She arrived home to find her mother in the kitchen, making beef dumplings. Artemis dumped her stuff in her room and went into the kitchen and sat down.

"Mom."

Sakura turned around and looked at Artemis fearfully. "Yes?"

"I forgive you."

"Arty, I-"

"No, wait, let me finish. Naruto explained everything to me. Listen, I have had plenty of people taking care of me my entire life. I have never ever been starved for love. I have you to thank for that. It's not your fault he left you like he did. But you always made sure I had plenty of people to care for me. I'm not going to spoil that or my relationship with you just because the asshole finally showed up. I don't need him around, and neither do I want him around. I love you, and I'm not going to let some idiot from your past ruin that. He wasn't around before, so I don't want him around now. Let's just pretend he doesn't exist, ok?"

"Arty?"

"Yes?"

"We're moving in with him."

Artemis packed another bag and left the house without a word.

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Itachi watched solemnly from the top of the building as Artemis burst out of the house angrily.

"Itachi! If you're there, I could really use you!"

Itachi landed in front of her. "How can I be of service?"

Artemis took a few deep breaths, her teeth clenched. "Can I please just...beat the crap out of you for a few seconds?"

Itachi shook his head. "I'm afraid not. See, it's really for your own good that you live with my brother."

"Your -"

Itachi nodded sadly. "Yes, I am the evil brother that slaughtered The Uchiha Clan and became the center of your father's life. I am the reason he left Konoha four years ago. I am also the reason he came back."

Artemis smiled at him. "Very funny."

"Even if I was kidding,it wouldn't be."

Artemis clenched her fist and looked at Itachi with eyes like daggers. "So, what you are saying is, you are the person who single-handedly destroyed my life?"

Itachi opened his mouth to protest before immediately feeling the pain of a million shuriken hit him for three hours in a matter of seconds. He passed out, his last view being the Sharingan eyes of the one person he loved more than he loved himself. With that sight, he bitterly congratulated himslef. That was four lives he's now destroyed.

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Sasuke watched with horror at the damage his daughter inflicted on his brother. Horror and ecstacy. Such a beautiful girl, such terrifying power, such pain. Black seals engulfed the girl's body, and Sasuke knew what was coming. The seals disappeared and Artemis burst into tears. she flung herself onto Itachi's body and began to call out his name.

"ITACHI! NO! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TOO! PLEASE WAKE UP! PLEASE DON"T BE DEAD, DON'T BE DEAD. WAKE UP, PLEASE!"

How the Hell did Artemis know his brother, let alone have this knd of relationship with him? But there was no time to consider that. Sasuke came out of hiding and landed softly behind the crouching girl. She turned around and looked at him fearfully. Sasuke stared at her calmly. "Take his pulse."

Artemis obliged. "He's alive! Oh, thank God, he's alive!"

"Good, now tell me exactly what you did to him, and we'll see if he'll stay that way."


	5. As The Angel Watches

Chapter 5: As the Angel Watches

_"Itachi!"_

_"Aye, Father?" Itachi sat on the couch next to his mother, his hands wounds around with dark blue yarn. Itachi's Father grabbed the teenager by the collar and pulled him away. _

_"You can help the woman later, but now you must come with me."_

_Itachi cringed as he followed his father down the hall into a dark room. Lord Uchiha pressed soome numbers intoa keypad, and the wall slid out, showing what looked like a lab._

_"Father, what is this?" Itachi asked, pupils widening at the bright light that reached his eyes._

Father what is this?_" Lord Uchiha mimicked cruelly. "This, my son, is the family business."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_Lord Uchiha grinned. "We're a biological weapons manufacturer. The best. You know why?"_

_No answer. Itachi's eyes darted to where a dead rat lay dead in it's cage, covered in purple boils._

_"Because of our little gift. We see everyone's greatest fears and make it a reality through disease. This is something you'll be doing years from now when you take over the family business. Now I want you to-"_

_"I won't." Came Itachi's reply. "I won't do this."_

_A swift smack stung his face. "Shut up. You are an Uchiha and you will carry on the family business. That is, if you want to see your mother and brother Sasuke alive."_

_"What?"_

_Lord Uchiha looked at Itachi with a cruel smirk. "Your mother is no longer able to bear me children, and I already have three sons. What is one less? Toshio would be happy to follow in my footsteps if the chance should arise."_

_Itachi looked at his father in shock. "No."_

_Lord Uchiha threw his son out of the lab and back into the hall. "I'll give you three days to change your mind, if you don't, they are dead." The door slammed._

_"NO! NO! I WON'T! NO!"_

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Artemis watched Itachi toss and turn in her bed, sweat forming on his brow. "No, no," he mumbled.

Artemis resoaked the washcloth and put it on his forehead. Her eyes stung for lack of tears, for she had cried them all away. She took Itachi's hand and pressed it against her sheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Sasuke watched the scene play out in Itachi's mind in horror. So that was why... Oh Lord. Sasuke's whole life was a sham. This revenge was misplaced. And now here he was, watching the daughter he never had sit by his brother's bedside, nursing him back to health. He was dumbstruck. What in the world had happened to his life? Just yesterday, he still had a purpose, an avenging spirit, and his lack of obligation. Now, everything he had had was being destroyed by this little dark-haired teenager in cut-offs. What was happening?

Not being able to take it anymore, he turned back into the living room where sakura waited anxiously on the couch. "Is he ok?"

Sasuke nodded. "He's got a bit of a fever, but he should get over it soon. But Arty's a wreck. Crying so much she can't do it anymore, saying sorry over and over again. It's pretty bad."

" Arty." Sakura said quietly.

"What?'

"Arty. You called her Arty," said Sakura, looking up at him. "I've never called her Arty in front of you, how did you know?"

Sasuke blushed. "Um, I don't know. Just suits her, I guess."

"How would you know? You don't even know her."

"Maybe not, but I can see a little bit. Sakura, how did she meet my brother?"

"I don't know. I had no clue about it until now."

"How? Where did you think she learned about the Sharingan?"

"I just figured she learned about it from Kakashi, or something. I don't know!" Sakura stood up. "Don't ask me these things. They don't concern me. If you want to know, ask Arty herself. Because despite the need you profess to know more about her, you sure as Hell aren't speaking to her much!"

Before Sasuke knew it, he was yelling. "Well how the hell am I supposed to do that? She obviously does not want me around, and she keeps disappearing every few minutes! What am I supposed to do? Just go, 'Hey, I'm your Dad, now tell me about yourself?'"

"Well, I'd change thw words a bit, but yes! That would be a start!"

Artemis peeked her head through the door. "You guys know I can hear you, right? Jesus, what is wrong with you? You see each other for the first time in fourteen years, and already you're holloering at each other! Great to see what bright prospects I'm facing, living with both of you!" With that she slammed the door hard.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other. "Well, you can't say she doesn't speak her mind," Sasuke said. "Bit assertive, isn't she?"

Sakura sighed. "She gets it from you."

Sasuke smiled. "Yeah, maybe, she definitely doesn't get her volume from me."

Sakura smiled. "You should hear some of the things that come out of her mouth. Ever since she was a little girl, all filled with energy, spilling out a million statements a second. You wouldn't believe it. Sometimes I wonder if she channels your spirit in the way she has with words. Only at least hers aren't said in such a cold manner."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. "Well, at least she doesn't have yor forehead."

The foresaid body part burned crimson. "Well, at least she doesn't have your weird-shaped mouth!"

"I CAN STILL HERE YOU!" Came Artemis's yell.

The two parents burst out laughing. Another angry yell escaped from Artemis's room.

"JESUS! BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU, NO WONDER MY VOICE IS SO LOUD! THANKS A LOT!"

They continued to laugh hysterically.

Artemis finally just turned the music up to a deafening volume. Itachi finally calmed down and stayed still. A weak smile played on his lips. A large one played on Artemis's. She patted herself on the back, cringing in preparation for the pain that usually came with touching her seal. It didn't come. Confused, she applied more pressure. Nothing. Artemis removed her netting and looked at her shoulder in the mirror. The mark was gone.

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Sakura lay on her side, on the living room floor, the blankets pulled up passed her chest. Sasuke looked back at her with a smile. "So, have I gotten any better?"

"Uchiha Sasuke, you are the most perverted person on earth!"

"That is unfair. One, you havn't even met everyone on earth, so you couldn't know, and two; if I wasn't, you would not have Artemis."

Sakura smacked him. "Shut up."

Artemis watched them from her doorway. She was not sure whether to be disgusted, jealous, or happy. But at least she could be sure of one thing, Sasuke did care for her mother. She could see it in his eyes.

She closed the door silently and turned back to face her bed. She walked over to her boombox, turned down the volume, switched the song, and crawled up next to the sleeping Itachi. She pushed back a couple of his bangs to see his face properly.

_There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold  
And she's buyingthe stairway to heaven  
And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed  
With a word she can get what she came for..._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Itachi's eyes fluttered open. He felt a warm body up against his. He looks down at himself to see his niece sleeping, her head resting on his hip. He smiled, despite the pain that seemed to envelope his entire body. He took a small bit of Arty's hair between his two fingers. It was greasy and unwashed, yet still silky and pretty. He chuckled to himself, remembering the time before the Uchiha Massacre, When he used to lie with Sasuke like this.

Where was his brother? Surely he was in the house, yes, there was his presence. But what was he doing on the living room floor? The answer hit him like a ton of a bricks, which doubled in pain due to his current state of comfort. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh...

He groaned. Ugh, how painful. But at least now he knew he had trained the girl well enough to kick his ass. Don't worry, Sakura, you won't have to worry about the Akatsuke trying to hurt this little Uchiha, they'd be dead before they harmed a touch a hair on her head.

Itachi swelled with pride, as if the girl was his own. Well, wasn't she? Sure, he wasn't her father, but he was more her father than her biological link outside. She definitely seemed to like him more, and they got along well, she reminded him of the days he was a human, and she seemed to really care. Seriously, even after trying to kill him, she was nursing him back to health. They did seem very right for each other, not in a lover's way, but in a sort of bond that practically tattooed "Itachi's Daughter," to her forehead.

Fuck DNA.

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Artemis's head shifted, and she became aware of orange enveloping her vision. NO! She was just about to go all the way with Johnny Depp right before Freddy Krueger got to him! She wasn't happy. Where the hell was Bon? Bon? Why aren't you screaming at me? Fuck, today was not going to be good. It seemed she had skipped the Highway altogether and went straight to Hell. She felt like she had a hangover, which was possible, she didn't remember anything from the night before.

She openedopened a crusty eye, quickly closing it again when the glare of the sun hit her dialated pupils. Why was her head on a rock?

No, wait. This was someone's hip. Artemis panicked. Holy Fuck. Who was she sleeping on? She tilted her head to meet the dark eyes of her favorite person staring down at her with a calculating gaze. The memories flooded back, and she smiled.

"Itachi," she slurred drunkenly, "You're ok."

"Well," came the bemused reply, "I wouldn't say that, you really did a number on me."

Artemis looked down. "I'm sorry. I just, lost control."

It was only then did she realize she was staring at his dick.

"EWWWW!"

Itachi looked at her, realized what was wrong, and laughed. "Thanks, but no thanks, Arty. We're related, remeber?"

"DUH! NOW GET OUT OF MY ROOM SO I CAN GET DRESSED!"

"Okay," Itachi said, hoisting himslef off the bed and pressing play on her boom box. "Let me just leave you some parting words of wisdom."

"LIVING EASY!" Ahhhhh, there was Bon.

"Thanks."

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AN: Ahhhhhh, how sweet. Don't worry, though, I'll be giving Sasuke and Arty some one on one time...Eventually. This chapter was a little shorter than the others, but I felt it best to end it there.


	6. Come Out and Play

Chapter 6: Come Out And Play

"Hey! Artemis-chan!"

Artemis turned to see her other team mate, Razuli Jeille walking towards her eagerly. Artemis restained a groan. Jeille was a nice guy and all, but he had a monster crush on her that she did not return. They had just finished reporting to Tsunade of their final completed mission of the day, and Artemis was planning on devoting the night to training. She had (stupidly, she realized now) said as muchto her team, and no doubt Jeille took it as his chance to 'bond' with her.

Nevertheless, she smiled indulgently ather approaching team mate, "Yes, what is it, Jeille-kun?"

"I wasthinking maybesince we're both planning on training tonight we could do it together!" The boy said hopefully.

Artemis considered it. She didn't actually feel like training, and had not felt like it all day. But she used the upcoming Chuunin exam as an excuse to get out of letting Sasuke come to a band rehearsal. What was she going to say now? This was one thing she could not get out of without ending up spending her evening having some 'one on one' time withher 'Dad.'

Artemis sighed. "Sure. Why not."

Jeille beamed at her. "Great! Let's go!" He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the forest. On the way there they passed Matsuri's house, where Matty sat on the couch in his garage, playing his bass. But he looked up when he heard them coming. He took one look at the disgruntled Arty, another at the eager-looking Jeille, and started to laugh. Artemis flicked him off as she was dragged further into the woods.

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_"Sasuke-kun!"_

_Sasuke looked up from his book in irritation. "What is it, Sakura-san?"_

_Sakura's eyes were bright, her cheeks were colored, and her smile was enormous. Happiness radiated from her you could feel the electricity come off of her. Sasuke frowned more deeply. It irritated him. How could she be happy? He was treating her with indifference, and the world was so...ugly._

_"Oh my gosh! You wouldn't believe it, but..."_

_"Yes?" Sasuke asked impatiently. He wanted to get away from her and her stupid, sickening, innocent happiness._

_"I finally did it! I finally beat Lee in taijutsu!"_

_"Great," Sasuke said in a high, mocking voice. "Now only six hundred victories to go, and you might become a half-way decent ninja."_

_Instantly, that happiness that nauseated him vanish. He smirked. Good, now everything was back to normal, she was sad and broken, and he could go one with life._

_But instead of the muffled apology for disturbing him and the sniffle that usually followed situations like this, Sasuke found himself instantly on the ground at Sakura's feet, gasping for breath._

_"WHY! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO KILL MY JOY? WHY CAN'T YOU FOR ONCE LET SOMEONE BE HAPPY! WHY MUST YOU MAKE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING AS MISERABLE AS YOURSELF! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO TORMENT ME BY DESTROYING EVERY SHRED OF GOOD FEELING I HAVE, AND LEAVE ME WITH THIS EMPTY FUCKING FEELING! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE MISERABLE AND PATHETIC, DOESN'T MEAN I HAVE TO BE TOO! GOD DAMN IT, WHY CAN'T YOU GET OVER YOURSELF FOR ONCE AND LET A PERSON BE HAPPY? WHY CAN'T YOU LET **ME** BE HAPPY?"_

_Sasuke looked up at the pink-haired kunoichi in shock as she ranted on. What the hell happened to that little timid, polite girl he knew? But no, he could not let her win like this, he had to take control and stop her in her tracks. He got up slowly and slapped her._

_Sakura didn't even flinch before knocking him to the floor again and continuing to rant. The sound ringing in his ears, he finally got up again, seized her roughly and pulled her into a voilent kiss._

_Needles to say she shut up. She looked at Sasuke as he pulled away, her eyes dazed. "Sasuke-kun?" She said in the voice he knew her for. He smirked._

_"Come, now."_

_Sakura started to pull away, but Sasuke just grabbed her and dragged her by the arm towards his house. Passers-by stopped and stared at them, whispering to each other, but Sasuke didn't care. He just reached his house, pulled Sakura in, and slammed the door._

_Sasuke pushed Sakura up against a wall and made her face him. His eyes glittered. "Ready for your reward?"_

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A cowardly man would have not entertained the notion of approaching her after seeing what happened the night before; let alone attacking her. Abrave man would tread cautiouslly and go through with it, but in an organiized manner after recieving instructions. Ameel Razuli was foolish. Foolish in the manner that was a commonplace amoung young men with massive potential and a thirst to prove themselves. This was the reason he was currently hiding from the girl, watching from far away, waiting for a chance to attack as soon as that idiot with her was gone.

He had every want to attack her, that was no problem. This girl had ruined his life and robbed him of his greatest dream merely by her existance. It was bringing her back alive that would prove to be the problem.

Razuli's childhoodhad beenone big nightmare. His father, disgusted by his son's red sharingan eyes he inherited from his mother, abused both him and his mother brutally. Mr Ameel blamed his wife for their son's 'deformation,' for she was a distant relation of the Uchiha clan. The truth was, it was more of a miracle Raz's eyes were that color, for his mother was so distantly related to the family that it was a wonder anyone could trace the lineage. But Raz's father beat the both of them for it just the same. And after his mother died, Raz's own abuse became worse.

However, when Raz was eight, the nightmare ended with the visit from a stranger. a beautiful, seductive man from the land of fire who had the ability to switch bodies and thus live forever. But he needed to change hosts and to hide. He had wanted to use the boy, but found him not mature enough. So he took Raz's father, faked his death,and took the boy in, training him and raising him with love and protection. He wished to take the boy when he was older for his sharingan, and Raz was all too willing. With that, Orochimaru's love for the boy showed more and more with each passing year.

He was a second choice, Raz knew that. Orochimaru perferred pretty boys with dark looks. But he wanted the sharingan badly. Raz knew there was a boy marked before him, one who furfilled every requirement, but who had rejected it. Idiot. Of course Orochimaru could have taken him by force, if it were not for the Akatsuki's protection of him . For Sasuke was the only one who could continue the bloodline.So Orochimaru settled on Raz.

But sure enough, a few eeks ago, a rumor reached them of Uchiha's possible illegitimate daughter living quietly in Konoha. Of course, this solved all Orochimaru's problems. If the rumors were true, he could kidnap the girl, hand her over to the Akatsuki so they could have their precious sharingan line, and Orochimaru could get Sasuke. As soon as the possibilty of his first choice returned to him, Orochimaru started neglecting Raz. He finally sent him on a mission to confirm the reports and then wait in Konoha for further instructions.

Raz had sent the message last night regretfully. He still had not recieved instructions, but he knew what to do. Maybe if he was lucky, he would be able prove himself by kidnapping the girl, and Orochimaru would decide on him over that brooding pretty-boy.

Raz knew he could take her, he also had the sharingan and the curse seal's power, as well as advanced training in gen and taijutsu. Only he didn't want people noticing her absence until it was too late. He had to wait for the boy to go before he could make his move.

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Itachi's situation was an odd one filled with selfish optimism. The Akatsuki were undoubtedly watching the village, waiting for the next Uchiha heir to come so they could swipe it and destroy the village. It was only a matter of time before they realized the truth. Artemis, for her own safety, and those of others, had to leave the village and go into hiding. Surely Sakura and Sasuke realized that. It was the only way, Tsunade agreed as well.

This was where Itachi came in. It was agreed he would take her with him after the chuunin exam and that she would become a missing nin to avoid questions. Itachi could not be happier to have his neice with him 24/7, but there was Artemis herself. She would not go without a fight. She would not want to leave her home, friends, family, and band. It would cause great emotional wounds Itachi would have to mend. It wasn't fair she should be robbed of a normal life just because of some organization's foul intentions. Itachi hated to do this to her, but at the same time, he wanted her around always.

She couldn't be told for a while, but Sakura would need to know now. Oh, that was going to be a bad scene as well. Sakura would not willingly give up her daughter, but she'd obey the Hokage's orders. And how would Sasuke react? How much did he care for the girl? The man was stubborn, and may not want to let her go. But then again, he was no fool. The existance of another Uchiha could not be known to the world until the Akatsuki were wiped out.

The urgency was increasing too. Itachi sensed an ill-wisher's presence. The person was strong, whoever it was, for Itachi could not pinpoint their location or identity, but he knew he would have to keep a close watch on Artemis for the time being. So he sat on the branches ofa tree and watched Artemis and her friend train silently. The girl's moves were high above her partner's in strength and technique. In fact, he was so caught up in his appraisal, he didn't even notice the boy giving up and leaving. It was the kunai flying through the air towards Arty that got his attention.


	7. I Don't Believe I Went Too Far

Chapter 7: I Don't Believe I Went Too Far…….

Artemis could hear it coming before it was even thrown. She caught it easily in midair without even turning around. As she caught it, she could not help but think, "My name is Bond, Jamie Bond."

Still clutching the weapon, she felt herself being caught in a stranglehold. She smiled. Too easy. She drove the knife into her attacker's thigh, careful to avoid the pressure point. She whipped around, still smiling. But to her chagrin, no one was there, the knife lay on the ground, untouched. Fuck, water-clone.

Two windmill shuriken flew at her from behind, barely missing her as she flew into the air, pulling twokunai from the chain on her belt and landing on a sturdy tree-branch. catching sight of the figure that attacked her, her eyes turned red. Another water-clone. But where was...?

She got her answer as the clone dissolved. She looked at the place it had been in shock. What has happened? It had been in perfect position to attack. But then she saw it. Itachi standing over a figure tied to another tree with shuriken-chains. Artemis winced. Ouch.

She came down from her perch and approached the two men. Itachi held a kunai at the man's throat. "Who sent you?"

The attacker smiled. "You won't kill me."

"Listen you piece of shit, if you don't talk, I'll torture you until you wish you didn't exist."

"Itachi, NO!"

Itachi looked up at Arty with surprise. "What? Arty, this man tried to hurt you!"

Artemis nodded. "I know. Untie him and let us spar, fair and square. I have no wish for you to fight my battles for me."

The attacker sniggered.

Artemis glared at him. "You attacked me in a manner unfit for a ninja, a cowardly way. Now I will punish you for it fair and square. Now, Itachi, untie him!"

Itachi nodded and undid the chains. The man got up and faced Artemis, a smirk fitting his face. "Say when."

Artemis looked at his eyes and stifled a gasp. Those eyes...

"Alleluia. Lock and Load."

A whirlwind of earth and wind mixed with shuriken flew at her while the man flew behind her, a kunai in hand. He plunged it into her leg, pulling his full body weight in it. He hit something too sturdy. He opened his eyes. He had stabbed a large length of thin tree bark. His eyes widened further as he realized his own shuriken and attack were hitting him. He spun around toguard his eyes, a reflex and a gesture of fright. But as the shuriken began to hit him in the back, he realized what he was doing. He flew out of reach, taking refuge on the branch that was only recently vacated by Artemis. Where was she?

He got his answer by looking down into the clearing to see her standing there, playing her guitar and singing softly. Raz flung a kunai at her,it hit her in the shoulder, yetshe continued to sing and play. What the hell?

But it didn't matter. He felt nice, relaxed, happy. The face that had been his father's looked at him with warmth and affection. Orochimaru's voice whispered to him softly. "_Hello. Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home?" _Raz sunk into the comfort of his voice, feeling warm and safe.

Something long, sharp and thin wrapped around his throat tightly. Raz gasped for air as he was pulled back into reality with a harsh tug that yanked him down from his perch to Artemis's feet. His limbs were twined together by the sharp threads. He looked up at Artemis with pain and hatred. She eyed him maliciously, black marks covering her skin. "Don't struggle. If you try to break free at all, the strings willslice right through you."

Raz slumped over, wallowing in his defeat. He felt himself be tyed to the tree once more. His shirt was off, and his bear chest was exposed. He looked up to see Artemis leaning over,the kunai that had struck her shoulder in hand. Raz gasped in pain instantly as the blade sliced into his chest a few times before pulling back. He looked down and gasped. On his chest, the was carved a capitol A with a circle around it. An anarchy symbol to most. But he realized with fear what this mark really meant. He was officially marked by the girl before him, who was now rubbing his chest, mixing her blood with his. She muttered some words and expelled some chakra before looking at him.

"You are now in my control, understand? You have to answer my every question."

Raz realized what had happened. She had put a claiming spell on him. He recognized it from his studies. Oh God. He nodded dejectedly.

"Who sent you?"

Raz's mouth opened and it answered her. It answered her every question, it went on for several minutes untilfinally the pain of the strings binding him pulled him out of unconciousness. His last sight was a dark figure coming up behind the girl and embracing her as her turned a beautiful green.

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Artemis felt two strong arms envelope her from behind. The warmth and love she felt in the embrace cooled her anger until she felt nothing more. Once again she looked at her attacker, but this time with a very different perspective.

Her attacker slumped on the ground, unconcious, bleeding from both the wounds she had given him, as well as where her guitar strings bound him. His face was round and youthfull looking, his mouth looking like it had never smiled, his eyes heavily lidded and shaded by the messy red hair that hung down in his face. Artemis gasped. He didn't look a day older than she was. But even with the blood streaming down his body, and the memories of his intentions still fresh in her mind, he looked so innocent.

Tears spilled silently down her cheeks, leaving red marks. She stared defiantly at the boy, making herself face what she had done until she could no longer take it. She turned into Itachi's chest, burying her head deeply into his collar bone, inhaling for his familiar comforting scent of Pine and sweat.

It was then she realized she was not hugging Itachi at all. She flew backwards swiftly, her feet skidding and kicking up a large amount of dust that clouded her vision. She stood in a defensive stance, waiting for another attack when the dust settled and she saw who it was that had hugged her.

Uchiha Sasuke's face held a look of mourning and pity. For her or her attacker, she could not be sure. He stared at her arms. Artemis followed suit, black marks were slowly fading from her arms. Artemis gasped and her fingers flew up to that familiar spot on her back, applying pressure. A spasm of pain erupted from it. Arty was stunned. Last night, she had been so sure... SO sure.

She came back to earth a few seconds later, seeing Sasuke trying in vain to unbind her attacker. He winced as the chords cut his fingers as he searched for a knot.

"It won't work like that," Arty said in a distant, hollow voice, "Only I can do it." Without waiting for a response, she performed the proper hand signals, and the strings loosened greatly and flew into her waiting hand.

Arty wrapped the strings around her hand to make a coil and stuffed them in her pocket. She looked at sasuke. "What are you doing here?"

"Itachi sent for me to come, when he saw what was happening, he knew we needed to have a talk."

Arty shook her head. "I don't want to have a 'talk.' I don't even know you. Besides, this guy needs to get to a hospital."

"Well, nice to see you care so much for his well-being," Sasuke said sarcastically. Artemis's stomach caved in. He had no idea how much those words hurt.

Sasuke hung his head in shame. He should not have said that, he knew what she was going through and knew she was not responsible for this. It was not good for him to talk like that, he knew how much it hurt. "I'm sorry, I'll bring this guy to the house and come back. But you stay here, understand? Wait for me, because we really do need to speak. This is more important than your grievances over my absence. Just stay put and wait."

"How do you know you can leave me alone? How do you know I won't be attacked if I stay here?" Artemis challenged.

"I made sure to comb the woods twice before I came here, not to mention no one in their right mind would even think of attacking you now," replied Sasuke, hoisting the man onto his shoulders. And with that he was gone.

Not knowing of anything else to do, she sat down grudgingly. She really hated Uchiha Sasuke right now. She hated him for his absence in her life, his affect on her mother, the condescending superior way he spoke to her, and most of all, that for a just a second, he had been her father.

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The last thing Sasuke needed was a delay in his errand. He did not need to give Artemis more time to change her mind and run away. Despite this, he felt grateful at the same time for the waiting he was required to do before he was allowed to leave the hospital, it gave him time to think over the information the boy had given her.

Orochimaru, alive. Of course he was. Sasuke's blood boiled. He felt enraged at himself for being so foolhardy all those years ago when he accepted a body as evidence of the snake's demise. But he was so fixated on his revenge, he didn't even bother investigating. Now he was paying for it. A desperate situation had become near-impossible. Once Orochimaru was motified of Artemis's existance, he would waste no time informing the Akatsuki of another Uchiha for them to breed from. And God knows the Akatsuki NEVER waste time.It cleared the way for Orochimaru to try and take his body. The Akatsuki would kidnap Artemis to get their Sharingan and destroy the village, no longer needing Sasuke. No, Artemis needed to leave and go into hiding as soon as possible for her protection, as well as the safety of everyone else. There could not be any questions regarding her departure, lest any ill-wishers caught wind of it, she would have to do the same thing Sasuke had done years ago and become a missing nin. But she could not go alone, and Sasuke could not leave the village. He would not be able to leave until both Ororchimaru and the Akatsuki were wiped out.

The person who would go with her had to know every stretch of land on the continent like the back of his hand. He also had to have thorough experience with both Orochimaru and The Akatsuki, he had to be strong,and he had to be someone she trusted. In other words, it had to be Itachi.

Just one more part in her life in which Itachi would be taking Sasuke's place. But really, Sasuke had no right to be angy about this. He was the one who had walked out on her and her mother and spent fourteen years on a fruitless mission. Meanwhile, Itachi had been caring for her since she was four years old. No, Sasuke was not really her father. He realised that now, and he had only himself to blame.

Despite this, Sasuke wanted to do something for her before she left. At least do something to assure her that he did love her, despite everything. There was only one thing he could think of.

When he was cleared to go, he headed back to the Uchiha Manor, ignoring the part of his brain that went, "You're wasting tiiiiime!"

He enterred the house, went into his bedroom, and opened his closet to find it. Leaning up against the wall was the his last chance at actually being a father.

It had been most prized possession, until now. It was time the two treasures went together. Sasuke knew when he saw that article about her band, that Artemis loved music as much if not more than he did. Sending her away without it would be a crime.

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He found Artemis sitting on the ground miserably when he came back. She looked up at him bitterly as he sat down next to her, setting a large case on the ground. She looked at it curiously. "What took you so long and what the hell are you doing with a guitar?"

Sasuke smiled. "Long wait at the Hospital, and about the guitar, well, that comes with something I wish I didn't have to tell you."

Artemis's face softened. "I have to leave don't I?"

Sasuke looked away. "You know why?"

"That punk explained it pretty thoroughly why I'm basically a danger to everyone in this village." Artemis whispered bitterly.

"You know about Orochimaru and The Akatsuki and their plans for you?"

She nodded.

Sasuke was not sure what to say. "Listen, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you how much I care about you and how much I''m at fault for this and whatever. You already know all this, I already know all this, and it would be a waste of valuable time and breath talking about it."

"Hn."

Sasuke instantly realized how Sakura must of felt back when they were a team. Nevertheless, he spoke.

"However, I DO care about you despite my actions in the past, and I want to prove it to you. But first, I figure you need an explanation. But this might be little random and strange, but I feel it necessary to tell you because despite-"

"Just cut the crap and get to the point."

"My grandfather, your great-grandfather, was actually a personal friend of John Lennon's," Sasuke said quickly. Weird approach to what he was going to try and convey to her.

"Bullshit."

"Well, actually, it was Yoko Ono, which now that I think about it, explains a whole lot. But nevertheless, John gave my father one of his guitars. Signed. And that's not bullshit. Of course, my father did not know what to do with it, so he gave it to me to play with."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "And let me guess, you're giving it to me as a going-away present."

"Well, yes, but there is somethinga little more special about it than it's former owner."

Artemis looked daggers at him. "There is nothing more special than John Lennon."

Sasuke took the guitar from it's case and showed it to her. "I beg to differ."

Artemis gasped. Pasted on various parts of the Yamaha accoustic were various pictures of Sasuke and every friend of her mother's she knew of back when they were twelve. But on the back, there waas only one picture. It was of Sasuke at age thirteenwith a reluctant smile on his face, giving a smiling Sakura a piggy-back ride. Above the picture was a note in white ink. "To the Uchihas, may love, happiness, and peace come to you. John Lennon."

"Sorry." She said to him.

"What do you mean?"

"John's wish didn't come true. Your life sucks."

Sasuke chuckled. "For the most part yes, but anyone could say the same thing. But his wish did come true for me."

"How? You've spent your whole life brooding and being unhappy."

Sasuke sighed. "Just look at the picture again."

She did. She looked at the smiles on both their faces, the mutual comfort her mother and father seemed to have, the simple love Sakura conveyed, and the overall cuteness of the scene. She looked at the other pictures, then looked back at the other one again. Of all the pictures, this was the only one where her father had a smile on his face. Like a thunderclap, she understood. John wished for him to have love, happiness, and peace, and in this photo, he had it. It may have been only a small moment, but that's what made it so special. That perfect state of bliss could only be caught in rare moments, no matter what your life was like. And even in the hardest of lives, like the one of her father, that happiness was still possible.

"Thank you," she whispered before giving her father a small kiss on the cheek and passing out into his arms.


	8. Just A Little Pinprick

AN: Just so you all know, this story will include more of the characters and stay a fanfic. This story is going to be very long, so all that's happened is really only the beginning for what I have planned. Furthermore, Itachi and Artemis will not end up together, so don't be a perv (Although I do like some itasasu stories, I just don't like writing them).

Chapter 8: Just A Little Pinprick

"When do I leave?" Artemis asked hollowly, her head in her mother's lap, barely feeling her mother's stroking.

"Three days. We were able to get out of that punk Razuli that Orochimaru is currently residing in Sand, so the message won't get to him for a few days. You'll be taking Razuli with you so he can identify Orochimaru and give you any information you might need. You have control of him, so he'll be your servant." Sakura explained tearfully. Oh God, if Artemis started to cry...that would be too much.

"Razuli?"

"Yes, That's his name, Ameel Razuli."

"My friend Jeille's last name is Razuli. He'll be pretty sorry I left."

"I have a few things I have to do before I leave."

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White. Light. Sore. Huh?

The boy sat up. He was in a hospital room. Why? How did he get here? What happened? He looked down. The bandages on his arms answered his question. Who did this to him? Wait, who was he?

He concentrated, trying to remember. Nothing. He focussed his chakra, trying to concentrate. But that isn't possible when your wondering how it is you can't remember your own name, but you can remember what chakra is.

Further distractions came in the form of a pretty woman with blue hair and white eyes. The boy looked up and smiled at her, but the look quickly faded. She looked at him with disdain.

"Y-you have v-visitors."

"Who?"

"Who d-do you think?"

Five people came into the room. They were not bearing gifts.

Instead, they looked at him with the same disdain the prettywoman had. But now there were three more pretty women; not to mention two angry-looking men with black hair who stood behind the women protectively.

One of the women, well not really a woman, she was younger than he was, spoke.

"Okay Razuli, I want to make it very clear what is going to happen."

"Razuli? Is that my name? What _is _going on? And for that matter, what _did _go on? I don't remember anything."

One of the man's eyes turned redcausing startled cries of "Sasuke!" But he looked at Razuli with those red eyes nonetheless. Raz felt dazed suddenly. But his brain settled and the man's eyes turned back to black.

Sasuke looked at the others. "It's true. He can't remember a thing."

"Well then, let's kill him. He's of no use to us," said the other man, pulling a kunai from his robes. Raz recoiled.

"No." All three women insisted on this immediately. Raz sighed with relief.

"He can still be of use to us as a spy and a servant. Besides, we may still be able to jog his memory and rehabilitate him. He'd be a valuable asset. When we fought, it was only do to his anger blinding him that I beat him so easily." The girl said, looking at him now with interest.

"Did we fight? I'm sorry, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

The woman with the pink hair laughed and turned to the man with the kunai. "Itachi, listen to him. He's a kitten. He won't be threat."

"Yeah, but how long will he be a kitten if we let him live? Once his memories back, he'll be his old self again."

The woman with the blonde hair finally spoke. "No. If ad when that happens, he still won't be a threat. He's under Arty's control, and besides, we might be able to rehabilitate him by that time."

The man called Itachi sighed and put his kunai back. "Alright, but he only gets one chance." He left.

The blonde woman looked at the blue-haired woman. "Hinata, have him ready tomorrow night. He won't be in his bed the next morning," she looked at Raz, "Don't panic when we come get you."

"Don't hold us up, talk to people, or run away," said the black-haired girl before grabbing Sasuke's arm and leaving with him. The other women followed them, leaving him alone.

No threats, no questions, no need for response. She just told him and left. This must be Artemis. Raz smiled. He couldn't think of a worse person to have control over him. This would be a long trip, wherever they were going.

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Artemis glanced over her shoulder at Matty and Meisha. The smiled at her sadly.

_"Guys, I have something to tell you."_

_"What, you hae a frog in your throat? You could at least have not waited ten minutes before we go on to tell us," Meisha joked._

_"No, this has nothing to with that, I wouldn't miss this show for anything."_

_"Yeah, especially since that's John Lennon's guitar," Matty joked. Artemis looked down, biting her lower lip._

_"Matty, shut up, what is it, Artemis?" Meisha said._

_"You have to find another singer."_

_"WHAT!"_

_A tear fell from the tip of Artemis's nose. "I have to leave tomorrow, and I don't know how long it will be until I can return."_

_"Why?" Matty asked incredulously._

_"I can't tell you why."_

_"But..." Meisha said, shocked. "Oh God... Arty!"_

_Arty burst inro tears. "I'm sorry. I have no choice, I have to leave."_

_Matty pulled her into a hug. "Arty..."_

_"I just wanted you to know that you guys are the best band a girl can have. Debbie Harry could not have asked for better. I would have done anything to stay. Playing with you guys is something I will miss most. And most of all, you are the best friends a person can have. If we never see each other again, just know that."_

_Meisha joined in on the hug. "Don't worry Artemis, we will play again, I promise."_

_"Even if we have to play our instruments when we're sixty, like The Rolling Stones,maybe even with wheelchairs,and people buying more of our t-shirts than records," Matty added._

_Arty laughed among her tears and broke away. She wiped her tears and looked up at her band with a smile. "Now, let's go make Pink Floyd look bad!" She yelled, in her usual pre-show battle cheers as she hoisted her guitar over shoulder._

_"Aye Aye!"_

_They went out on stage and got into their positions. Arty stepped up to the microphone, holding her electric guitar she had had since she was eight._

Arty looked back at the crowd. "Tonight is kind of a special night, so we're going to only be able to one song. And I thought this one was perfect considering how some things have been going on and how I've been feeling about them."

She caught Sasuke's eyes. He looked at her quizically as to why she wasn't playing the guitar he gave her. But she just winked.

"_Hello?  
Is there anybody in there?  
Just nod if you can hear me.  
Is there anyone home?  
Come on, now.  
I hear you're feeling down.  
Well I can ease your pain,  
Get you on your feet again."_

Arty looked at Itachi with a smile, he smiled back and winked.

_"Relax.  
I need some information first.  
Just the basic facts,  
Can you show me where it hurts?  
There is no pain, you are receding.  
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.  
You are only coming through in waves.  
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.  
When I was a child I had a fever.  
My hands felt just like two balloons.  
Now I got that feeling once again.  
I can't explain, you would not understand.  
This is not how I am.  
I have become comfortably numb."_

Sakura beamed at her as Arty played out the solo. But asArtemis began to sing again, she locked eyes with her father, staring at him blankly. He nodded in understanding.

_"Ok.  
Just a little pinprick.  
There'll be no more ...Aaaaaahhhhh!  
But you may feel a little sick.  
Can you stand up?  
I do believe it's working. Good.  
That'll keep you going for the show.  
Come on it's time to go.  
There is no pain, you are receding.  
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.  
You are only coming through in waves.  
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.  
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,  
Out of the corner of my eye.  
I turned to look but it was gone.  
I cannot put my finger on it now.  
The child is grown, the dream is gone.  
I have become comfortably numb..."_

Matty and Meisha sang along to the last line, and for this, Arty played the rest of the song just for them.

And as the song came to an end, Artemis collasped. She felt Matty and Meisha pick her up, carrying her off the stage with th guitar still strapped to her body. She opened her eyes and glanced at them. They smiled down at her. They carried her all the way back to Matty's garage. They collaspe on to the couch and looked at her.

Arty sighed. "I want to stay right here in this spot for the rest of the night."

They nodded. "Us too."

"But when you wake up,I won't be here, I'll be gone."

"We know," Matty said sadly. "But let's just celebrate and try to be happy."

Meisha pushed some buttons on the stereo and they fell asleep to the songs of Nirvana, muttering to each other.

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As was promised, Arty was gone by the time Matty and Meisha woke up. All that was there was her trusty Fendor Stratocaster, on the back was a picture of the three playing together as little kids, written in sharpie on the picture was Meisha's once-childish handwriting, "Love-love, THE BESTEST BAND EVER!" Below the picture, Artemis added, "Sober Love, the bestestestestestest band ever, and my best friends. Don't forget to make suremy wheelchair has purple seats--If it comes to that. I love you.

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AN: Another short chapter, however, I had to leave it there. Sorry.. And yes, I know that's the second reference to that song I made. But whatever.


	9. Now She's Faded

Chapter 9: Now She's Faded

Raz huddled around the fire, sneaking glances at his traveling companions. They ate their rice silently, looking at each other with significant looks, as if they were communicating telepathically.

No, that was probably what was happening, Raz realized. They both had the sharingan, and were probably reading each other's minds. Inside, Raz scoffed. Waste of power. It took enormous amounts of chakra to do that and everytime he used it, he always felt-wait. How was he able to remember this and not his life?

"Because, idiot-san, the sharingan is something that goes beyond mere memory."

Raz looked up to see both Artemis and Itachi staring at him. He shrunk under their gazes. Wait. It had been Artemis who had spoken, yet her eyes were not red. She had been talking to Itachi the whole time without her eyes turning red once, so how-

"Am I able to read your mind?" She said, laughing. "Because I have developed a way of progressing my power so it no longer just works through my eyes. I am able to use it from any object I wish. That is why I wooped your ass so easily the other day."

Raz's jaw dropped. "Th-that was you? You were the one who did that to me? Why?"

"Because, stupid-san, you attacked me. Jesus, how am I supposed to work with you if you don't have a clear understanding of my power over you?"

Raz stared at her. He started to think, over and over again, "LALALALALALALALA."

"Artemis-chan, stop it," Itachi said to her.

Artemis looked at him, "What?"

"He has a right to his privacy, and like he said, it is a waste of power. Leave him alone."

Artemis looked at him like he was from Mars. "Wait, you were just suggesting the other day that we kill him, now you're telling me to respect his privacy?"

Itachi sighed. "Artemis-chan, you still have a lot of growing up to do."

"Great environment for it, too," Raz said sarcastically.

Artemis gave him a shocked look. For a second, Raz panicked, shit, she was going to kick his ass for being so disrespectful. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. But she didn't.

Instead, she laughed. "No shit, Sherlock," she said before pulling out her guitar and strumming absently. "This thing needs tuning. Raz-san, could you get me my tuner? It's in my black messenger bag."

Raz stared at her. Why was she suddenly being so nice? This was weird. "Why, will it inject poison into my veins?"

Artemis laughed again. "No, not unless Itachi-kun decides to start singing. Then your ears may explode."

"HEY!" Itachi yelled. Raz laughed and got the tuner out. He handed it to her with a smile.

"Hey, don't think just because I stopped dressing you as Stupid-san means everything is chill between us. You're lucky I'm not left handed, or I may have killed you."

Raz nodded. "Alright, but don't get to upset when you fall in love with me and we switch places control-wise."

This time it was Itachi who laughed. "Raz-san, you have a lot to learn about Artemis-chan. The only people she loves are me, her mother, Tsunade-dono, My brother, her parents' friends, and her band."

Raz snickered. "Well then, I guess I'm in a worse position than I thought. I just hope you won't make me hang around with the same people."

At that comment, both Itachi and Arty started throwing things at him.

"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" They both yelled.

"Scheissur!" Raz muttered when they stopped, rubbing his head, where two enormous bumps had formed.

Arty smirked. "You've got the crappy tent tonight."

"Fucky fucky fuck."

"Sweet dreams, stupid-san!" She called as she sent him to the ripped tent.

Cursing, Raz huddled up under his sleeping bag. Assholes. But as he slipped under his covers, he remembered the looks on Arty's face when she asked him to get her tuner, and the other when he said that thing about her friends. There had been a friendly, forgiving smile, and then, a look of great hurt. Raz felt sorry for her. She probably really missed her family and friends. He should not have teased her. She was just acting out her feelings ina rather violent way.

Raz realised something. She might be incredibly beautiful, talented, smart, and powerful, but Itachi was right, she had a lot of growing up to do. It seemed rather like she had missed something, something important. But what was it?

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Three Years Later:

Arty sat at the bar, scanning the room for signs of Raz or Itachi. There were none, she sighed. How much longer would it take? They had been gone for over an hour. She was expected to just sit here, not call attention to herself, and wait. If anyone came up to her, she was to blow them off.

"Hey, Beautiful, may I buy you a drink?"

Araven-haired man in ablack t-shirtandbondage pantsgrinned at her. Ugh, another one.

"No, you may not."

"Come on," the guy said sweetly, "Let me buy you a drink, and why don't you tell me your name?"

"No," she said stubbornly. She felt sorry for the guy, he seemed sweet, if a little persistant, or maybea little desperate?

"Ok, well then could I at least know your name?I promise then I'll go. At least then I'll be abe to warn my friends."

Artemis looked at him, "Ok, if I give you a name, will you promise to leave quietly?"

The guy nodded.

"My name is might have been, My name is no one, my name's forgotten. Now please go."

The guy sighed. "OK, but I'll want your real name if we meet again. Mine is Hoshina Kent, in case you give a shit." With that, he turned and walked away.

Artemis smiled. He was funny. Too bad he was just a civillian.

Since leaving, Itachi had taken her and Raz all the way to Tokyo. Here, it was so crowded, there was less a chance of anyone recognizing them, plus it was a place many of his friends lived.

Itachi had since created an entire mob out of his contacts, and become a prominent gang leader. It had been crucial if he wanted to find ways to crush the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. Indeed, Artemis was now a Mafia Princess, but a secret one. No one knew who she was, and no one could know.

Being as such, there were distinct ups and downs to this. The ups being the obvious; she was never tried for cash, protection, information, and access to wherever she wanted to go. But the downs were awful. She could not be alone, could not use the resources at her diposal to further herself as a musician, and could not contact her family. Their gang had ties to all the hidden villages, so that ninja would not come bothering them, but it would blow their cover if anyone found out. But that was not even the worst.

Sober Love had planned to come to Tokyo when they were eightteen to try and break into the industry and get themselves heard. It had been a sacred promise they had made to each other, and something they had been planning for since they started the band and were called 'Love-love.'

But now, in Tokyo, almost eightteen, sitting in a bar with a ton of resources and not being on stage with Matty and Meisha seemed like a horrible betrayal.

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Of course, there was something else going on, too. Raz still did not remember his pas whatsoever, even after three years. Instead, he had become of use to Arty in other ways. He was her only friend beside Itachi.

He seemed to understand her in ways that neither of them could figure out. How did he know what it was like not to have a perfectly normal family life? How did he know what it was like to have to be treated differently? How did he know how she felt every time she was told she could not go anywhere that night?

He knew, and it was amazing. What was more amazing was how they connected. It had only taken him a few days into their mission when Artemis warmed up to him. She hadn't even warmed up to her own father in a week as much as she came to like Raz in only three days. But she couldn't help it. Tsunade was right, he was just a shy kitten. Except when he fought, and you got to see his claws.

He had turned out to be a bit devoted to both her and Itachi, not very independent. He always needed someone to rely on, it seemed. Arty never understood it. He was very strong, smart, and not bad looking. Why was he so dependent on them.

But Artemis was happy for the attention, for she did not get as much of it as you would guess for a mafia princess. Itachi was always paranoid, so he did not let her let anyone but himself and Raz into her life. Sure, she could talk to people at parties and such, but she couldn't give them any personal information. Itachi introduced her to everyone as 'My daughter, Mika.' And that was it. Her name, which had made her feel so special as a little kid looking up at the night's sky from her windowseat; was gone. Haruno Artemis, musician, kunoichi, daughter, and student was gone. Now she was 'Uchiha Mika, Mafia Princess.'

Even when this was all over, when she returned to Konoha, and played with Sober Love once more; the happy girl she used to be would be gone. Even her name would change to Uchiha Artemis. It was all gone for her. Every remnant of her old life was gone. She should have known things were crumbling when her mother would not sing along to Madonna. That had been the first sign, but she still left her room that day.

A sudden chill went up her spine and she looked around the room again. There, standing in the crowd, was a dark man in a black and red robe. Arty's heart skipped a beat. They had found her.

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Raz flew to Arty's side and whispered in her ear, "Let's go, there's a car waiting in the back lot."

Discreetly, the left the bar and headed out to the waiting limo. Arty got in to see Itachi sitting there with a cautious look.

"Don't worry, they don't know you're here, I checked. But you need to stay at the penthouse for a couple days just to make sure."

Arty burst into tears. She hated staying in the pent house caged up like a rat. It made the pain of being here all the more worse. "I hate this."

Itachi looked at her. "I think I know how to make this a little more endurable."

"How?"

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An: Ok, this is the part where I get down on my hands and knees and beg you all for reviews. If I'm on your faves or alerts, I'd like a review. It would be a nice touch, and frankly, school is really getting hard now that it's second quarter, not to mention my parents restricting my net time due to my report card. Hah! So if I'm going keep posting this up, I think I should get a bit of encouragement, and not just from the same old people. Love ya, Wendy.


	10. Sending Shivers Down My Spine

Chapter 10: Sending Shivers Down My Spine

**_"Is this the real life?  
Is this just fantasy?  
Caught in a landslide  
No escape from reality  
Open your eyes  
Look up to the skies and see  
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy  
Because I'm easy come, easy go  
A little high, little low  
Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me!"_**

She froze, staring at the scene taking place in the penthouse. Life swam around her, as did the faces of three people she thought she'd never see again.

"MEISHA-CHAN! MATTY-KUN! JEILLE-KUN!"

Instantly, Arty found herself on top of three the teenagers, who smiled weakly. She beamed at them all the same taking them in with shock and glee. Meisha was even more beautiful than Arty remembered, with her golden-red hair and dark brown eyes. Matty was still his crazy, blue-haired self, he was even still wearing fishnet shirts.

But Jeille. WHOA! When did Jeille become such a hottie? No, he wasn't the shy boy she knew from her team back in Konoha. In fact, he was an emo hottie (anyone who knows what an emo-hottie is can start cumming right about now). Hisblack hair was long and silky, his yellow eyes fierce. He was petite, actually. Very smallbuild. But, unfortunately, he was wearingtight jeans. Arty looked at him.

"Uh, Jeille?"

"Yeah, Arty-chan?" Jeille asked her excitedly. He still seemed to have a bit of a crush on her.

"Are you wearing your little sister's pants?"

"NO! My mom got them for me!" He said hurriedly, covering up his waist.

"So," Meisha said giggling, "Your mom buys you jeans at Guess?"

They all burst out laughing.

"No, actually, I bought them for myself, I wore them for Halloween, and I thought that they would make you laugh. From what we've heard, laughter is not much of a routine thing for you anymore," Jeille said seriously.

With that, they all picked her up and then threw her on the couch before jumping on her, screaming, "COUCH ORGY!"

As soon as Arty got her breath, she answered him. "No, I have to admit, things have been pretty crappy since I left."

"Don't worry Sexy, we have supplies," Meisha said before reaching over into her bag. She withdrew a few things and showed them to her friends.

"Ahhhhhh," Arty said excitedly, "My four favorite men. Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Ben, and Jerry!" (AN: Heehee, this reminds me of camp. My friends Liz, Katy, Jack, Ally, and Matt used to do this. We also spent a lot of time listening to Queen. And one day, my friend Molly had gone to Target and I had asked her if maybe she could get me some pickles. She got me a HUMONGOUS jar. Me and my roommate ate them all until we were sick. Good Times, good times...)

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She never asked them what they were doing there. She could figure most of it out by herself. But three days later, when they left, it was like Tokyo had transformed intoa place so bright and beautiful that Arty was not sure what the Hell she'd been doing for three years. Or, more importantly, what had she been missing?

She sat at a park fountain, reading a book, Raz close by, as always. He was always somewhere near. But for some reason, Arty felt like a normal girl for a second. Not a Mafia Princess, not a cursed Heiress, just a normal girl reading a book by a fountain. And it seemed she was not the only one who agreed.

"Well, hello Might Have Been/No One/Forgotten-san, how pleasent to see you."

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Orochimaru sat huddled over and gasping for breath at the man's feet. It was his daily torture at the hands of the Akatsuki. He cursed Razuli once again.

How could the boy have been so stupid. Orochimaru had told him to wait for instructions, and what did he do? He attacked the target, put the enemy on their guard, let them escape, and then just disappeared! Now, here he was, huddled over in pain, paying for his 'deception.'

Yes, see, after Orochimaru had told the organization of Arty's existance, they had launched a full attack on the village to find the girl, but had turned up with nothing. Just a forewarned, stronger village, an angry Uchiha, and a weaker army. They had of course, blamed Orochimaru for this, and had been torturing him ever since as punshment.

_Curses on that boy. Even with the advantages this body gives me, I can't possibly overrun the entire Akatsuki, even if they ARE weakened._

But the day would come when he would get his revenge.

_You said it, Boss._

Thank you, Gaara. Don't worry, we'll be out of here in a few days.

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Raz watched with foreboding from behind the newspaper he was reading. What the Hell was she doing?

Artemis was chatting cheerfully with that man in the jeans and Pink T-shirt. She kept batting her eyes and tossing her hair and smiling at him. Raz's blood boiled, what the Hell was she doing?

"Patty-sama," he whispered into the microphone hanging from his ear, "Get in there and stop this, what is she doing?"

"Dude! Calm down! For Christ's sakes, dude, she just FLIRTING. Jeez, let her have her fun, she's been stuck in a penthouse all day. She doesn't get to meet a lot of people," this exasperated, hyper voice of Eucharista Patricia said over the phone.

Patty was a girl Itachi met two years back whohad sworn to destroy the Akatsuki for destroying her family when she was a young girl. She had trained in The Village Hidden In The Mist as Kunoichi and had become a jounin at the age of thirteen, surviving on determination alone. Itachi had recognized the strength in her and the determination (so much like his younger brother's) that he had recruited her instantly. Of course, loyalties would have been a worry, but Patty had fallen head over heels for Itachi soon after meeting him. And now, at twenty-six, she had become a confidante of theirs, and one of their only fully trustworthy employees. Of course, Itachi did not wish for Patty to be in any kind of danger, so he restricted her relations with Artemis to a near minimum. It was a shock to Raz at first that Itachi would worry about anyone other than himself and Arty, but Raz suspected Itachi was hiding some deeper feelings for the crazy little ninja than he let on.

But of course, they had other matters to attend to. Things were not looking to good for Arty right now. Especially since with every movement that guy made, Raz felt more like crushing every bone in his body.

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"Well, If it isn't Hoshina-san. Didn't think I'd see you again," Arty said politely, stuffing her books into her bag.

"Oh, don't feel the need to leave, I'm not stalking you," Kent said, noting her gesture as he sat down next to her, "After all, to do that, I'd need to know your name so I can find out where you live. But supply me with that information, and I'll get started as soon as you want. How's Monday? 6 o'clock, The Starbucks down the street?"

Arty laughed, feeling more at ease. She smiled at him, a gesture he returned. Suddenly, Arty felt a little hot. She brushed some hair away from her face, doing it more extravagantly than she originally had intended. She blinked a few times. What the hell was she doing? She was flirting. Why the hell was she flirting. Haruno Artemis---Uchiha Mika did NOT flirt. Never had she ever flirted, in all her life. WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON! JESUS CHRIST ON A GODDAMN CRACKER! WAS SHE THAT DESPERATE!

"My name is Artemis."

Yep, she was that desperate.

Kent smiled, "Great, is there a last name you could give me?"

"Well," she said, gathering her books up and standing to leave, "I'm not sure about that, let me see on Monday."

Kent smiled, "See you then, Artemis-sama."

"Bye."

Artemis got up and walked away towards the curb where a car was waiting. It was then it hit her.

She was going on a date with someone she barely knew. She was breaking all the rules and going on a date and risking her safety. She was going to defy Itachi. She was going to hang with some stranger and drink coffee. She was going to go out alone. She was in deep trouble. Itachi was going to kill her if he found out, which he would. But worst of all, she had absolutely nothing to wear.

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Men in dark robes started toward him, but Orochimaru just let them be suffocated by the sand. The men choked and fell. Ahhh, revenge was sweet. He started for the door.

_No! Wait! My Gourd!_

Orochimaru sighed and drew it to him. He bolted then and ran as far as he could from the cave, toward freedom. Time to deal with that stupid little boy servant of his. Raz better be waiting for him when he got home.

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Itachi banged his fist on the desk, Raz jumping slightly next to him at the violent gesture. "God Damn it! How did he get away?"

The three men stood before him sullenly.

"We're not sure," said Sasuke, "But we believe Gaara of the Sand might have been involved."

Itachi looked at the three jouninin shock. "What? Gaara? Why? How?"

"We're not sure how," said Lee angrily, "all we know is that we found traces of his attacks at the place where Orochimaru was held. We're not sure what their connection to each other is, all we know is that if Gaara is involved, we have even worse problems."

Itachi growled. They had recently learned the location of The Akatsuki's headquarters where they were holding Orochimaru. A large fraction of it's members resided there, keeping the snake at bay. This had been perfect, for if they launched an attack there, not only would Orochimaru be gone for good, The Akatsuki would be weak enough to make it easy to finish them off for good. But now, The akatsuki were weak and Orochimaru was free. Which basically left Orochimaru free to take Sasuke's body whenever he wanted. In fact, that was the whole reason Sasuke was here at all. If the Akatsuki were still strong, then Sasuke would have to stay in Konoha to protect it. But now, they would be too distracted trying to count the damages and find Orochimaru to watch the village. But this was bad, really bad. And if Gaara was involved... Orochimaru had increased his power tenfold. Not to mention he had a lot more information on Sasuke that could prove to be valuable...

It was then that it hit him.

"Someone, get to Konoha, stat."

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Orochimaru stumbled around the house in a furious rage. Where the fuck was the boy? He was no where! What the Hell had happened? Had he even left Konoha?

_Wouldn't put it passed the coward to be dead..._

No, Raz was not dead, Orochimaru was sure of it. But where was he?

He needed information.

_Might I make a suggestion?_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Sakura stared out the window with a weak smile playing on her lips. The sun was shining much too brightly, the birds were singing, and everyone out were wearing identical squinty smiles they only bore because they thought it appropriate on such a 'beautiful' day. The days that Artemis had despised. Oh, Arty, always seeing observing every single thing that was wrong with everything, always seeing through the bullshit. Always making sure everyone else saw it too.

Would the next ones be like that too? Or would they be a little more accepting? It would make things much easier on her, but at the same time, it would be a bit of a disappointment. Arty used to make her laugh the way she protested everything.

_"Little Miss, do you realise apig had to die so you could have that Hot Dog?" The woman said to her from across the dining table to a four-year-old Artemis._

_The little girl looked up from hermeal at theLady with flashing eyes. Sakura sighed, she knew it was a mistake letting Artemis come with her to meet the actress._

_"Miss, do you realise that twenty times as many plants had to die so you could have that salad? I'm just trying to save as much life as I can, I'm sorry."_

Sakura laughed fondly at the memory. "Oh, Arty, you never could keep your mouth shut, could you?" She asked aloud.

"I don't know, but if it is so, I hope she gets that from you." A familiar voice said from behind her.

Sakura looked around. Her eyes widened. "G-gaara-kun?"

The figure of Gaara of the Sand pushed her up against a wall, clutching her neck. He leaned in and licked her neck with a long, thin, forked tongue. "Guess again," he hissed.

Sakura screamed.

Orochimaru covered her mouth. "Now, Sakura-channnnnnn, would you be so kind as to give me the location of both yor daughter and my son?"

"No." Sakura said angrily, kneeing him in the balls.

"UGH!" Orochimaru moaned, doubling over. "You're going to pay for that, bitch," he said, advancing on her.

He started for her, Sakura backed away fearfully until she hit the wall. Orochimaru's eyes flashed as he reached for her.

But he stopped instantly, his eyes wide with shock. He choked and sputtered, spitting out blood, until finally, he fell to the floor, a kunai sticking out of his back. Sakura looked up at him, then looked up to see her saviour.

Raz stood above the body, looking down at it with blank eyes. Sakura opened her mouth and utttered thanks, but Raz didn't answer. He seemed to be frozen, he just stood there silently, just looking down at the body.

Sakura looked at Raz, then looked down at the body. The red hair, the shape of the jaw, that intimidating aura... She was standing in the room with Gaara's only son. And his killer.

"Raz..." Sakura said hollowly, before her voice failed. What was she supposed to say?

They just stood there awkwardly as the blood stained the floor slowly. When the body was finally drained, the gourd Gaara so treasured dissolved.

"I remember now." Raz said. "He was my father... He... hurt me and then Orochimaru took him and I... I was happy and then I wanted... and then I..."

With that, he collapsed on the ground, face first into the sand and blood. Sakura burst into tears. Nothing really mattered now...

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AN: Oh, this is going to rattle you a bit. But wait unil next chapter. Things get a little, weird... Don't worry, things don't end here. We've still got a ways to go.. Oh, and if you listen to Bohemian Rhapsody, you'll see why this song is PERFECT for a theme.


	11. I'm Not Even Gonna Try

Chpater 11: My Characters: Bipolar Schizophrenic Junkie Sexually Confused Emo Happy Rock Fetishist-Hipsters With Too Much Free Time And A Fondness For Saying 'Fuck.'

Itachi sat back in his leather office chair, his fingers crossed, and his eyes pointed heavenward. Three years had seen little or no progress, yet in one week, everything had changed. That seemed to happen a lot with his life, and to tell you the truth, he wasn't sure whether or not he liked it. Although the last week had been more than satisfactory in results.

The Akatsuki were finished off, and well, didn't you read the last chapter?

Of course, that didn't come without a price.

Well, duh, or else we wouldn't have a story, now would we?

Raz, of course was becoming what Artemis described as a 'understandably emo kid.' Whatever the Hell that meant. But Itachi had the sneaking suspicion that it meant Raz was depressed, mopey, pissed, bitter, anti-social, and extremely annoying. But they had to put up with it. After all, the memories he probably had to deal with now were not exactly pleasent.

It had all come back to him when the second the kunai sunk into Gaara's back. Raz was Gaara's son. And of course, Gaara, hating Sasuke desperately, hated anything to do with him. So when his son was born with red eyes by a woman Gaara had not even known until too late was Sasuke's third cousin, Gaara had made their lives, both the boy's and his mother's; a living Hell. So when Orochimaru came along and took Gaara away and maade Raz feel wanted, it was only natural that Raz would feel attached. Itachi understood now; Sasuke would be getting Orochimaru's soul instead of him, so that's why he attacked Artemis so violently. But now...

"I never truly loved him, I realize that now."

The words echoed in his head repeatedly. But the next sentence was the heart of it all.

"I love your niece."

The problem was that Arty was now fooling around with some guy she met at a bar, what was his name? Kent, that was it. Yes. Kent was, of course, everything Raz saw himself as not. Kent was handsome, withPurple (why did it have to be purple,why?)eyes andblack hair. Whereas Raz looked with his red hair, eyes, and complexion, 'like he was covered in rust' in his words. Kent was smart and studious, not to mention outspoken and daring, whereas Raz had a quiet sweet manner. And most of all, Kent was musical. Arty was completely smitten, so much that it showed in a rather obnoxious manner. In fact, it was all she could think about, besides going back to Konoha to see everyone and get her band back up again. She even wanted to take Kent with her to be Sober Love's rythm guitarist, as if it wasn't bad enough. She was so caught up in all of it, she barely noticed Raz's new attitude, just dubbing it as 'emo,' trying to confort him,and occasionally trying to cheer him up by lip-syching to Michael Jackson and doing the Thriller dance. But she gave up after a while, and just started telling him to get over it.

But he wouldn't get over it.

Itachi sighed. He really needed to stop worrying about everything and have a vacation, but there was still so much to do...

There was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Eucharista Patricia enterred the room, a big smile on her cheery face, as usual. "Hello, Itachi-kun! I was just wondering if you were doing anything tonight?"

Itachi sighed and looked at her. She was wearing a green-plaid skirt and black blouse. It looked cute, especially with that smile she was wearing. It was like she was saying 'I'm a cute little little girl, come and play with me or I'll eat your face." Itachi couldn't help but have a fondness for her.

"Patty-chan, I'm sorry, but I really have too much on my mind right now to go out, but don't let me stop you from having fun."

Patty pouted at him. "You're worried about Arty-chan and Raz-kun, but you shouldn't. Stop concerning yourself so much with them and start living your own life. Remember when you used to do that?"

He did. He remembered being a young man wandering all over the country at will, not a care in the world, doing whatever he wanted, before he ever met Arty or started hanging around the Akatsuki. Boy, did that not suck. He pined for that forgotten freedom. It began to overwhelm him until...

"Yes, I do, in fact, Patty-chan, I think I'm in the mood for some deja-vu."

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Raz stared down at the coverlet, or, in truth, his purchase, like a stalker watching the object of hs obsession.His lust for it was overwhelming in a way that would of scared him if he had any room in his head for thought or feeling.

A magnetic attraction drew everything fromhim into this newly acquired object. However, there was a small part of him using all its strength to keep him from taking it.

Fear, he told himself. But deep down, he knew the truth. The thing keeping him away was that hope. That fantasy. Him waking up from this nightmare, Artemis lying beside him, grumpy for him waking her up and rewarding him with a sharp right. Pain? That was part of his fantasy? He really was a masochist. After all, hadn't he once hoped against hope that his soul would be devoured so some disgusting snake could inhabit his flesh? Was he not on the brink of something that had the potential to harm him just as much, if not more? Something that would not only hurt him, but everyone around him? Did he wish them harm? Even the woman he loved? Well, maybe. After all, that was probably the only thing left in this world he had to give her.

Another reminder of the circumstances that put him in this state. He had once wished her harm, death even. He hated her for her very existance, loathed her to the brink of insanity. And now?

He had just wanted her to be happy. But now, he realized there was more to it. He wanted her to be happy with him. And he had probably a million chances to make this dream become reality. But he had missed them, ignorant to the nature of his own feelings. Now, he had lost to some guitar playing pretty boy with a stupid haircut.

She was so happy though! She was in a state of bliss, and she knew and appreciated it, unlike him. Just another way she was so much better than him. _She _had a lot of growing up to do? He was still that same hateful naive little boy wishing for revenge. She was everything her name suggested and more. She was...everything. He hated her, he loved her, she brought him comfort and hope, she brought him pain and crushed his every dream.

Now all that was left for him lay on his coverlet. It looked so insignificant to anyone who didn't know. But while Raz knew he was a fool, he knew he was not ignorant. Especially when it came to this.

He grabbed the syringe and drove it into his arm. As the liquid spread throughout his veins he saw a woman walk towards him. Not Artemis, for she only brought forth half the feelings in him that the girl did. Needles to say the pain part was gone.

He saw her face and gasped. So like Arty's only without any traces of anger or pain. She was just.. beautiful and happy.

"_Hello, my son," _she said in a voice like music.

"Who are you?" He asked, dumbfounded.

_"Have you forgotten? I'm your mother, Rei. I'm here to---"_

With that, she faded away. Raz rose to the breaking point of disappointment. So much so he didn't feel anything as he slipped out of conciousness.

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Arty was shocked and doubting. No. Way. No Fucking Way.

Was she alive? Because if she was, that would explain a lot.

No, there were her vital signs. But, then, what was she doing in heaven?

Who cared? She was just so beautifully, completely, breathtakingly, nuerotically happy, nothing else mattered, just Kent. That was all there was.

His eyes, oh, his eyes? PURPLE PURPLE PURPLE! PURPLE! BIG! PURPLE! EXPRESSIVE! PURPLE! No, his nose? Pointed, strong, perfect. Lips, well, they came with a perfect look... and everything else. Hair? Shiny! Black! Reaching to his ears! Like Gerard Way's! It was a fucking miracle! His voice, deep and funky (like Joey Ramone's, was that legal?). Everything he said was funny, insightful, sarcastic. He danced around in summer storms singing the F.U.N song. He'd yell out in public areas for everyone to get naked and headbang to The Beastie Boys. He did a dead-on impression of Linda Blair in the 'The Exorcist.' He wentto horror movies and laughed at them. He made cinnamon buns. He moon-walked his way to work. He listened to Nine Inch Nails. He wore John Lennon Granny glasses and made fun of Sid Vicious. He sung 'Material Girl' in the shower. He kissed guy-friends on the lips. He wore fairy wings when he went to the library (don't ask). He walked around barefoot. He was an orgasm on legs and happiness in pants. She was becoming one of those women she hated, and she didn't give two shits.

It didn;t matter, she didn't hate anyone. How could she? All her stamina and emotions were used up loving his every detail.

Heehee! Sunshine! Kittens! Anne Rice Novels! The resurection of Kurt Cobain! Yellow Submarines!

Seriously, he had, in his bathtub, at least twenty hand-carved yellow toy submarines. What was better than that? Ummm, yeah, she couldn't think of anything either. Well, that wasn't surprising, since all there was in existance as far as she was concerned was a certain someone whose first name started with a 'K.' R.E.M's Shiny Happy People would be her theme song if it didn't suck so much.

And, since he existed. Nothing was going to faze her. No one could piss her off. No one. Unless it was that dude who sang on the Shaws Jewelers radio ads. Yeah, then she might be capable of a pissy mood. But other than that, the world was perfect in every way.

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AN: Short Chapter, I know, but I thought I'd answer some reviews for once. Sorry about the title, it was longer than the chapter, I know. And, as it turns out, this author's note. Don't worry, I will write a long chapter soon, I promise!

Mio: Under no circumstances will I let your suspicions come true. Sorry, but Patty and Itachi are not Sasuke and Sakura. That character is merely a gesture of affection towards a friend of mine who is a monster Itachi fangirl. And about your problem, try making your friends at school read your stories. And, as for Raz's mother; I thought it ridiculous to add another OC. So that, much like the rest of my character, is a mystery.

Spirit Demon Goddess: Sorry about EvilRockrKeed. He is my spastic friend Dillon, who currently living at a Bio Lab in Housten Texas where they are conducting esperiments. But don't tell him, he thinks every time he's absent from class it's due to him being 'sick.'

Everyone Else: Yes, I know, I rock. Yet despite my possession of this information, you have to keep telling me that. Or else I'll go totally emo and curl up into a ball and then penguins will attack and eat my brain and you'll never hear from me again.


	12. Hey Little Girl I wanna be your boyfrien

Chapter 12: Hey Little Girl, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

Rei was gone. The apartment was back. How ugly. It was dark. Dark dark dark. Trash on the floor, putrid smell in the air. He sat on the edge of his bed in plaid boxers. He was unshaven, thin, and dirty. He layed the needle down next to him. When would Rei be back? Where was she?

Light came from the corner. Raz looked toward it gleefully, with arms open. A child greeting his mother. A smile on his face.The familiar womanly figure was not wearing a dress.

A pair of ripped jeans held up by a purple studded belt. A black Sex Pistols tee that was covered with a length of purple netting held together by safety pins.A beanie atop messy hair, paper clips in the ears. A look of worry and bewilderment enveloping heavenly features.

Not Rei. He dropped his arms and turned away.

"Go," he croaked, not looking at the figure, whoever it was, "You're not Rei. Leave me alone."

A starled cry reached his ears. "Raz-kun? Oh my god. What's going on? What is wrong with you? Who is Rei?"

Rei didn't think anything was ever wrong with him. This wasn't Rei.

"GO AWAY! YOU'RE NOT REI!" He turned and grabbed the girl and threw her at the wall. She hit it with a thud, slid down and began to cry. The sobs she uttered pierced his ears like a thousand knives. He covered them.

"Go away!" Raz called out, turning away from the huddled figure. "Stop crying and go away! I want my mother, Rei!"

He heard her stop crying and stand up. He smirked. She was leaving.

She grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face her. She looked him right in the eye. "Look at me!"

He looked down. "No-"

She grabbed his head and pulled it up forcefully to face her. "Raz-kun. Look at me now. Do you recognize me? It's me, Arty. You're friend? Come on, please know me!" She was strong. He knew her. Those green eyes. His heart started to swell while his stomach contracted. Pain and love. He knew her. He knew her well. But she still wasn't Rei.

"Arty-chan. Go away now."

Her eyes darted towards his bed, and before he knew it, she was at the open window, flinging the needles out into the night air down six stories.

He grabbed her again and slapped her. "You killed my mother."

She looked at him with flooded eyes. "Raz, please! You're poisoning yourself! Rei isn't-"

"DON'T SAY SHE'S NOT REAL!"

She was now halfway out the window, her head hovering over the great fall. He held her there, seething with anger. Her eyes turned red. She whispered.

"Where's the Piper? Why isn't he calling me?"

"Shut up!"

"Can you hear him?"

"NO!"

"Then there is hope."

"Shut up!"

She looked at him and opened her mouth.

_"She'll come back as fire, burn all the liars, leave a blanket of ash on the ground."_

A red-headed woman with a gaunt face that told the history of past beauty swam across his mind. A name tag was pinned to her waitressing uniform. 'Hi, I'm Frances.'

_Frances..._

Frances. That was his mother's name. Millefule Frances. Rei was a lie. Arty was hovering eight stories above the ground. He pulled her back in and sank to the ground. Frances Frances Frances.

Warm arms encircled his quivering form. A soothing voice spoke. A deep, edgy, yet soothing voice. She loved him. She forgave him. She wanted to help. She was sorry. She wanted him to stop. She wanted him to live. She wanted him to be happy. She loved him. He was her brother. She loved him. She would never be in love with him. He who had twice tried to kill her. He whose chest bore her mark. He who loved her above all others and all things. He who wished to bring more tears from her and then destroy them.

"You don't love me like you love Kent. You never will."

She nodded. Tears fell. She apologized.

"Never do that. Don't apologize for who you love. It makes you you. I love you. Don't take that from me. I love you like you love Kent. I love you like you love me. I love you like you love Itachi. I love you like you love music. That's all there is. You. But you are more. I am your antithesis. But I love you, and I want to be around you. I want you to have a small part of your heart reserved for me. If you do this, I will be as happy as I ever could."

She said yes. She loved him and always will. She never could understand his feelings for her, or maybe she could. Did she not love Kent? But she did not hate Kent. She did not have half the feelings for Kent that he had for her. Simply because she was not Kent's outer shell and dark soul, like he was hers. She was Kent's light. She was the part of Kent that was all that was good. She was everything Raz would never, could never, be. She kissed his forehead and tucked him into his bed. She lay by his side. He fell asleep.

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Arty satforward in her chair, surveying Tokyo with a mix of bitterness and respect. Her chair was Kent, whose arms wrapped around her protectively. But she barely felt the pressure. His arms were strong, but they were not a ninja's. She did not care. She felt the warmth and love and happiness.

"Why are you staying here? I thought you could not wait to get home."

She turned to look at his perfect face and smiled sadly. "I can wait now, I want Raz-kun to be there. And he can't be there while he's in rehab."

Kent nodded. "I'm sorry this happened."

"Me too," she sighed, leaning back into his chest. "But life's a bitch, sometimes you just have to play with it and give it a treat to fix things."

"We're its owner? Or our we it's puppies?"

Arty kissed him on the cheek. "Depends on how you live it. I own my own life. I make my decisions, I deal with things."

"While Raz-san is just a blind puppy, looking for a nipple to feed from. You're the owner who has to guide him."

She nodded. "Yes. And I intend to do it better. It's been my job ever since I marked him three years ago."

Kent stroked her hair. "Well, I won't let you do it alone this time."

Arty turned her head to face him. She smiled. "You're beautiful."

"I know," Kent said after kissing her, "It's why we're such a good thing. No, wait, we're not a 'thing' we're more. There isn't a word to say what we are. But words are irrelevant, we're above them. That's what makes us own our lives."

"You're perfect."

"Dead wrong. If I was perfect, I wouldn't be beautiful. I'm an oxymoron. You're everything."

"Shut up. You're gettiing philosophical on me. I hate it when you sound smarter than me."

"I'm not. But I am making a point here. I'm taking your point and adding on to them. Appreciate it, if no one did that, we wouldn't have music."

"Hm." She pouted and crossed her arms like a little kid. Kent laughed and tickled her tummy. She squirmed and laughed. "STOP!"

Kent lifted up the edge of her shirt, exposing her stomach and blew on it.

"Sto-ah-ah-op!"

"Name five bands of the sixties!"

"The Beatles! The Stones! Sha-na-na! Ten Years After! The Who!"

"You are beautiful."

"You are God."

"You are a Godddess."

"Then I guess I'm stuck with you."

"Sorry."

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Patty hung to Itachi's arm. He looked at her with mock annoyance. "What are you doing?"

"I want this man you've become to stay. I don't want anyone to take you away and replace you with some prick. Stay. With. Me."

"What if someone cuts off my arm?"

"Then. They. Die."

"Well, then, I guess I'll have to learn to deal with you."

"Guess you will."

"Guess I have to keep you around."

"Guess so."

"Guess we'll have to get married."

"Guess sooooooo--WHAT?"

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They were beautiful. All babies are beautiful. Especially when there were two. Expecially to their own parents. Especially when both were there to appreciate it. Especially when it was the first time they were together to share in this. Especially when the mother had stopped calling the father a 'mother-fucking cock-suck.' Especially when epiderals were involved.

Green eyes. Black hair. Pale skin. Big Forehead. Long necks. No dimples, but that was okay. They didn't need or want another Artemis. They were happy with one. The didn't have more kids just to have copies of the first.

So pretty. Beautiful little girls. No curse seal, either. Well, Orochimaru _was _dead. Nice thing too, it came with healing for Sasuke and Arty too. At least that was what they figured, they had nt seen her as of yet. She was supposed to have come by now, but something came up in Tokyo.

But now all they could think about were these little angels. Ai and Shika. Perfect little children, just like their sister.

Sasuke looked at a jubilant Sakura with a smile. "We HAVE to get around to making more of these."

Sakura snorted. "Easy for you to say, you're not the one who has to spend six hours pushing something the size of a watermelon out of an opening the size of a lemon."

"Ahhhhh," Sasuke pouted after checking to make sure no one was around to see him act cute, "Pweeeeese? Pwitty Pweeese?"

Sakura looked at him. "God help our kids, they're being raised by one."

"Ah, at least you'll never get bored."

"I havn't been bored in eighteen years."

Sasuke laughed. "You have me to thank for that. And I know how you can repay me. Marry me."

"Don't worry, we'll have it done as soon as Arty gets back. I couldn't get married without her being there," said Sakura seriously.

Sasuke nodded. "Hey, you think once she gets back and we get hitched, we might be able to call ourselves normal?"

"No chance in Hell."

"Good. I'm not happy unless something weird goes on. We'll get bored," Sasuke said smirking. Sakura smacked him. He responded by planting a kiss on her cheek before doing the same to the twins. "Please, darling, no violence in front of the children."

Sakura smiled. "I love it when you let down your guard."

"And when I don't?"

"You don't amuse me."

"Well, nice to know this risk of humiliation renders you service."

"Marry me," Sakura said, turning his words on him.

"Not till Arty gets back," Sasuke assured her, returning the favor.

"Good."

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AN: Chapter short but sexy. Sawwy.


	13. I Hate The Things I Do When I'm Nervous

Chapter 13: I Hate The Things I Do When I'm Nervous

A little baby. Right there. In his arms. Cooing. It was so cute. He didn't want to break it. It was so little. So delicate it would be so easy to. So hard not to. Careful! The balance of pressure had to be just perfect. Too hard, it would be crushed. Too light, and it might fall. No!

How could Kent do that? Just sit there, baby in his arms, cooing and making little faces while speaking so cordially with Arty's parents.

He was so perfect, and Raz was so...

If he didn't stop, he was going to rip off his own face, cook it in a pan, and eat it for lunch.

And if he didn't stop conjuring up those types of images, he was going to find himself back in that Tokyo apartment, talking to 'Rei.'

He glanced over at Arty, who was talking animatedly with Sakura about God knows what. She looked so happy, so pure, so animated in a way he had never seen her. She was just so... jubilant. Was her life perfect? That's what he wanted after all. For her to have a perfect life now that the Akatsuki craziness was gone.

Please... Please be happy...

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Sasuke tredded softly across the hallway back from the nursery to the bedroom. Sakura sat there waiting for him, an eyebrow raised.

"You use that thing too?"

Sasuke looked down at the bottle in his hands and blushed. "Oh, yeah, I'll go and-"

"Oh, for crying out loud, Sasuke! Just come to bed! Leave the bottle on the bureau and get under the covers! It's freezing!"

Sasuke left the bottle and climbed in next to her. "So, overall, how do you think things are with our little girl?"

Sakura sighed, "Well, to tell you the truth, Arty seems totally fine, better actually, except..."

"What?"

"I think she's upset she no longer has her old room."

Sasuke looked down at the pillows and sighed. "Not surprising. I could tell when I first went in there she really liked that place, what with all the posters and pictures and paint. But you know, I tried..."

"I know, but you know.. She used to sit at that windowseat every night and stare up at the sun and talk and laugh. It was very special to her. But no matter, I still own the place, I'm planning on giving it to her so she, Meisha-chan, Matty-kun, Raz-kun, and Kent-san will not have to look for a place to stay."

Sasuke smiled at her. "Good idea. What do you think of Kent-san anyways?"

"Oh shit," Sakura sighed.

Sasuke looked at her, "What?"

"You're going to get all protective and nosy now."

Sasuke felt offended. "What do you mean? I was perfectly nice to the boy!"

"Well, there you go. You're not referring to him as Kent-san, you're referring to him as 'the boy.' And besides, you were kind of insistant of them sleeping in seperate rooms."

"Well, maybe I just don't want them-"

"On opposite sides of the house-"

"Well, so what?"

"Two floors apart.."

"Shut up." Sasuke turned over.

"But anyways, it's not Arty I'm worried about."

Sasuke turned over once more to face his lover. "You noticed it too?"

Sakura shook her head sadly. "That poor boy, it was just so obvious, wasn't it?"

Sasuke sat up and nodded. "Poor kid. And with all that shit we found out about his past. Could you imagine waking up one day to find out everything you've been looking for for the three years is what you've been running from? And Gaara! I could not believe it!"

Sakura looked down at her stomach mournfully. "I can a bit, actually."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"When I found out I was pregnant with Arty, he had been trying to get me to date him, but I kept rejecting him. He thought it was because I thought he was a freak, but then he found out and... He went back to Sand and hookedup with this girl named Frances. That was the last I heard from him."

Sasuke shook his head. "The world is so fucked."

"_Was _so fucked, good night!"

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Four months Later:

Sakura wished she had three sets of eyes. One to stare into Sasuke's eyes, another to watch Artemis up on the stage, and another to watch the twins. But she could not manage to break the stare hold with her husband.

_Husband!_

Looked like she had accomplished what she had been dreaming of since she was seven. Of course, her phantasies had been a bit different than her current circumstance, but that mattered little. She had gotten what she wanted. She wasn't the only one.

Dancing next to them were the other bridal couple. Patty looked so adorable with her hair like that. Itachi, well, he looked like Itachi. In other words, gorgeaus. But not as pretty as the little fetish she had dancing with her, or that beautiful little angel up on stage singing.

Arty was another one who had gotten what she wanted. Kent stood up on stage, taking turns singing certain parts of "Danny Says."

Boy did she look beautiful. Her dress was what she called "The Helena dress with purple." Aparantly some dancer wore one like it in some MCR video, only with red instead of purple. But it looked adorable anyways.

Kent had joined Sober Love, and now they were getting ready to go one tour tomorrow, and they were bringing Sakura and Sasuke with them. A perfect honeymoon.

An odd thing was happening though. A truly shocking thing. Neji and Tenten had been delivered two little twin boys, and Hinata and Naruto were blessed with twins, a boy and a girl. It seemed everyone was having twins(AN: I know this is a stretch, but it is really important).

With that thought, Sakura thought of Patty and Itachi. Their life would not be easy now, but when had it ever been? But Itachi was stil serving a large amount of service to the Town as punishment for his crimes, and both of them were getting harrassed. No one wanted them there. There was also the fact they'd never have any children. But Patty, always the cheery optimist, was going to adopt a baby girl, and was dealing with all of their problems. They could not have a honeymoon because of Itachi's probation, but she never complained. She was just so happy anyways, so content.

Sakura sighed softly and rested her head on Sasuke's shoulder. At least she had not failed. Look at the beautiful woman she had raised. But then again, that was not saying much, all women were beautiful.

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Raz watched the stage silently from his table. She looked beautiful. She sang beautiful. So did Kent.

Raz was no longer jealous though. He had stopped fixating on it all. She was happy, that was what mattered, and he accepted that. He just wished now that he had someone as well.

But at least he had the twins. The Uchiha twins, he meant. He had conquered his fear of babies and seemed to have found his calling. He had discovered this great love and bond with children he coud not fully comprehend. They were just so... pure. So pure he could never taint them. Thus the twins were staying with him.

"Um, hi, are you Raz?"

Raz looked up to see a sweet-faced blonde girl in a pink dress smiling down at him. He smiled.

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, hi, I'm Jen, I'm an old friend of Patty's. I was wondering if you wanted to dance."

"Well..." Raz glanced down at the twins hesitantly.

"Oh, no problem Raz, I'll take them," Ino said as she swept over, taking up a baby in each arm and wandering off with them.

"Great!" Jen said pulling Raz onto the floor wildly.

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"Well, what do you think, husband?"

Itachi smiled as he eyed Raz and Jen. "Good job, wife."

-------------------------- End of Book 1------------------------------------

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AN: Okay, yeah short chapter. And just so you know, this is not the last chapter, I'm just going into a new part of the story, I think you'll like it because it includes more of the old characters. So keep R and R!


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